Brazil ponders Boa Vista connection to grid

Brazil's national energy policy council CNPE is discussing strategies to resolve lawsuits against a transmission line that will connect Boa Vista to the country's main power grid.

Boa Vista, in northern Roraima state, is the only state capital in Brazil not connected to the main grid, since a transmission line would need to go through protected indigenous lands. The government would need to reach a settlement with the Waimiri Atroari community, which is responsible for the lawsuits, before proceeding with the project.

The transmission line connecting Boa Vista to the main grid was supposed to be delivered by 2015.

A power surcharge that subsidizes fuel costs for northern Brazil's isolated power grids is expected to raise R10.2bn ($1.97bn) in 2022. Once a region is connected to Brazil's main grid, the surcharge will cease to pay for its fuel costs.

By Rebecca Gompertz