{"id":626614,"date":"2026-09-25T01:43:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/626614\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T01:43:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:43:03","slug":"brazils-wind-farms-have-been-a-huge-success-so-why-isnt-everybody-reaping-the-benefits-global-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/626614\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil\u2019s wind farms have been a huge success. So why isn\u2019t everybody reaping the benefits? | Global development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beneath the power lines cutting across Antonio de Souza\u2019s property in Serra do Mel, in north-east Brazil<\/a>\u2019s Rio Grande do Norte state, rows of cashew trees once stood \u2013 until the clean energy company ordered them to be cut down.<\/p>\n

De Souza cannot plant crops in the affected area and the tractor cannot be driven through it in bad weather, as the driver risks an electric shock. Cattle, another source of local income, are forbidden from grazing near the cables.<\/p>\n

The contract says the infrastructure occupies one hectare (2.5 acres); yet, the farmer counters, four hectares have become wasteland on a 50-hectare plot that was the family\u2019s livelihood.<\/p>\n

The story of Serra do Mel is one often heard in places where wind has provided energy and development, a model now moving offshore. But still rarely discussed is how the benefits can also harm local communities\u2019 health and livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\"WindWind turbines in Serra do Mel, Brazil<\/p>\n

Brazil has about 35GW of onshore wind capacity<\/a> in commercial operation, the fifth largest in the world<\/a>, according to the Brazilian Association of Wind Energy and New Technologies (ABEE\u00f3lica) and the Global Wind Energy Council. In November 2023, in Riyadh, Brazil\u2019s president, Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, summed up the nation\u2019s ambition: within 10 years, Brazil would be known as the \u201cSaudi Arabia of green energy\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nine in 10 of Brazil\u2019s wind turbines<\/a> are in the north-east, thanks to the constantly strong winds, which engineers often describe as the \u201cbest in the world\u201d. It is also among the regions with Brazil\u2019s worst social indicators<\/a>. This convergence could have resulted in a historic redistribution of wealth, but those in the turbines\u2019 shadow tell a different story.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Cristino da Cruz on his farm in Serra do Mel \u2013 he is one of those involved in a community-led lawsuit against Voltalia<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019d known it would be like this \u2013 that I\u2019d be prevented from planting and harvesting \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t have signed that contract with them,\u201d says De Souza, who adds that he is not opposed to wind power.<\/p>\n

When representatives of the French renewable energy multinational Voltalia<\/a> arrived in his village after a year of drought, De Souza signed the contract, as did almost everyone in the area. The promise was a monthly income of 3,000 to 5,000 reais (\u00a3430-\u00a3720), adjusted annually like a salary, without harming crops.<\/p>\n

A decade later, the farmer is leading a public civil lawsuit against Voltalia<\/a>, filed in May 2025 by three rural workers\u2019 organisations, with a favourable assessment<\/a> from the public prosecutor\u2019s office and the public defender\u2019s office, which provides legal aid, monitors human rights and has an ombudsman role.<\/p>\n

The people of Serra do Mel are not calling for the company to leave but they do want to know how much the energy generated on their land yields and to receive what they say was promised to them.<\/p>\n

They also want to regain the right to retire as farmers, which is at risk because they can no longer work their holdings \u2013 land the Brazilian state granted to needy farmers 50 years ago is now leased to a multinational for another 50.<\/p>\n

The payments, hard to audit, are 1.55% of turnover, which will depend on where the energy is sold. Data from the National Electricity Agency<\/a> (Aneel), compiled by the Lavoro Institute, shows that 17 of the Serra do Mel power stations sell all of their electricity on the open market<\/a>. Most of it goes to Brazil\u2019s south-east and central-west regions, at prices negotiated directly with large consumers.<\/p>\n

\"BrazilianBrazilian farmers describe what it\u2019s like living next to wind turbines \u2013 video<\/p>\n

The paradox is that electricity generated in Serra do Mel is sold cheaply to people the residents have never met, while the power that lights their homes costs twice as much.<\/p>\n

A Voltalia windfarm in Serra do Mel celebrated Brazil passing the 10GW power milestone in 2016. But 10 years on, most streets in the municipality remain unpaved and families have no mains water. One day, Edvaldo Bessa, then 75, returned to his plot of land and got an electric shock from the steel cables of the metering tower, which lacked insulation.<\/p>\n

Power lines in Serra do Mel carry electricity generated by wind turbines to Brazil\u2019s national grid. Farmers are not allowed to cultivate within 50 metres of each pylon<\/p>\n

Data from the Primary Healthcare Information System (Sisab<\/a>), compiled in the Lavoro Institute\u2019s report, shows a significant rise of people in Serra do Mel complaining of anxiety and panic disorders, sleep disorders and hearing problems from 2022 onwards \u2013 when most of the municipality\u2019s 36 windfarms came into operation. In Po\u00e7o Branco \u2013 a municipality similar across all indicators except the turbines \u2013 the trend moves the opposite way.<\/p>\n

Relvani de Brito near her land in Serra do Mel. Since her late father signed a 50-year lease with an energy firm for a solar and windfarm on the farm, Brito has not been allowed on her land<\/p>\n

Brazil has no federal regulation stipulating a minimum distance between turbines and people\u2019s homes. While France requires such equipment to be at least 500 metres from houses, Relvani de Brito lives 250 metres away from a turbine. This is what the \u201cBrazilian windpower miracle\u201d is built on.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the day, you can barely hear it,\u201d says De Brito. \u201cAt night it\u2019s worse because everything is quiet, and that\u2019s when the racket starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take medication for anxiety. I don\u2019t sleep at night; I wake up at one o\u2019clock, right on the dot,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In July 2024, at a packed meeting, hundreds of farmers voted to take legal action against the company. The civil class action<\/a>, filed in May 2025 by a coalition of three workers\u2019 organisations, seeks compensation for collective non-pecuniary damage for health problems or unfair contracts; the suspension of the four windfarms still under construction; the relocation of existing turbines; and a corrective environmental impact assessment, with community participation.<\/p>\n

It also calls for a review of the contracts, limiting the transfer of rights to 50% of the plot, restoring the farmers\u2019 status as \u201cspecial insured persons\u201d. This means that farmers should not be able to sign over their entire plot to the energy company.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter |Every fortnight<\/p>\n

Sign up to Global Dispatch<\/p>\n

Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features, opinion and photography, curated by our global development team<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

By law, if a farmer transfers up to 50%, they do not lose their insurance rights, provided they continue to work the land. The \u201cspecial insured person\u201d status is a category within the Brazilian social security system created for rural workers on family-run farms.<\/p>\n

Approached after the lawsuit was filed, Voltalia said it had not been served, that it complied \u201cstrictly \u2026 with Brazilian legislation\u201d and adopted \u201ca collective, participatory and transparent contractual construction process\u201d, with a \u201ccommitment to the social development of the communities\u201d. It denied that the projects caused damage.<\/p>\n

In a statement to the Guardian, Voltalia said it valued \u201csustainable development\u201d and \u201cdialogue with local communities \u2026 from local in-person assistance to digital channels such as the Ombudsman, as well as regular meetings, and social and environmental initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding contracts, the company said it \u201cdeveloped the agreements in collaboration with local landowners and diligently addresses any matters concerning these agreements through the appropriate channels.\u201d It added that its windfarms were \u201cmanaged in accordance with applicable regulatory, social, environmental, and health and safety requirements\u201d.<\/p>\n

Just over 18 miles (30km) from Serra do Mel, the wind blows towards Areia Branca beach, where boys are playing football. Behind the goal, onshore turbines already form a white fence. Now, what almost no one saw coming has been licensed to be built right in front of them, but this time offshore.<\/p>\n

Cristov\u00e3o, in the Areia Branca region, is the first site in Brazil licensed for an o\ufb00shore windfarm<\/p>\n

In June 2025, Ibama<\/a>, the federal agency responsible for environmental enforcement, issued Brazil\u2019s first preliminary licence<\/a> for an offshore wind energy project, which will have far greater capacity than onshore turbines.<\/p>\n

It will be installed off Areia Branca, near the terminal that is the main distribution point for Brazilian salt. The developer is the National Industrial Training Service (Senai-RN<\/a>), with all the energy supplying the port itself, a test site under a recently enacted law from 2025.<\/p>\n

At Ibama, more than 100 offshore windfarm licence applications are waiting to be processed. \u201cThe way this process is conducted sets a precedent for all others to follow,\u201d says Giovanna Ferreira, an activist monitoring the case on behalf of the Semi-Arid Region Human Rights Reference Centre<\/a> (CRDH).<\/p>\n

Giovanna Ferreira, a researcher and activist, in her office. The banner behind her reads \u2018Energy justice starts with participation\u2019<\/p>\n

When the CRDH visited the surrounding fishing communities, it found that the people most affected were unaware of what was about to happen. Senai claims the chosen area is in shallow waters far from traditional fishing grounds but the fishers say the towers will be erected where they work.<\/p>\n

Questions have been raised about whether further expansion is even necessary. The north-east of Brazil already produces more renewable energy than the grid can handle.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Brazil wasted 20.6% of the wind<\/a> and solar energy it could have generated, with turbines shut down due to \u201ccurtailment\u201d \u2013 when grid operators halt generation to prevent it exceeding demand, which could trigger blackouts. This loss is estimated at more than 6bn reais, which the sector association\u2019s president, Elbia Gannoum, called \u201cthe worst crisis in Brazil\u2019s wind energy industry\u201d.<\/p>\n

Out on the beach, time is measured differently. Luis, a fisher from Areia Branca, has heard about the turbines to be put up in the sea where he works. He is fearful, but still believes all will be well. \u201cGod and the ocean will always provide the fish we need,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Luis on his fishing boat at Areia Branca: \u2018God and the ocean will always provide the fish we need\u2019<\/p>\n

Between Luis\u2019s faith and the legal proceedings lies a decision to be taken far away, as to which of these two forces will shape the future of these waters and the community that relies on it. Local people are waiting for the wind to blow in their favour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beneath the power lines cutting across Antonio de Souza\u2019s property in Serra do Mel, in north-east Brazil\u2019s Rio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-626614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}