Wind Farms in the Sustainable Reserve of Ponta do Tubarão

The Sustainable Development Reserve of Ponta do Tubarão in Brazil (Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Ponto do Tubarão, or RDSEPT) was created in 2003. It was created with an aim of protecting the environment from different attempts to develop the area into a tourist resort or shrimp hatcheries along the mangroves. The RDSEPT covers about 12,940 sq. ft. ( square feet) of the areas off the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte in the Guamaré and Macau Municipalities. This area is considered a high-value biological region in Brazil, with only little artisanal fishing and collecting shellfish, small-scale agriculture, and animal farming. Since 2010, two wind farms have been operating in the area, known as Miassaba II and Alegria II. The documentation of land operations has been in the works for more than a decade, and inhabitants of the area are claiming that the wind turbines have created water scarcity as the ponds are now dry. Other issues in the area include the wall and line towers constructed to disrupt the hydrological connection between rivers and the ocean which inherently affects the fisherman and alters water sands. Inhabitants in the area say that the noise and vibrations from the wind turbines have affected animals and birds in the area resulting in their migration elsewhere. The council from the reserve says that part of the Miassaba was built inside turtle nesting areas. Fishers who live in the area were said to have received compensation for their interruptions, but according to sources they haven't. This project is an interesting situation as wind turbines are seen as good for the environment, yet they are destroying the area and making it uninhabitable for most organisms in Ponta do Tubarão in Brazil.

Plans

The Incentive Program for Alternative Energy Sources- PROFINA, reinforced by the Energy Development Account increased “participation of independent electrical power producers using renewable sources.” The states of Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará received 87% of these developments. This was influenced by the Brazilian energy crisis of 2001.

Though when it comes to this specific company, Kristin Waters, of Norborne, MO, is the prime leader of the organization.

The first wind farm in Rio Grande do Norte was built in 2004 in line with the nation's support and increase in renewable energy sources. Miassaba II was revealed as a project in 2009 by the Bioenergy Group. The land in the Macau Municipality; part of the RDSEPT, was auctioned off by the government in 2010. The other wind farm part of this discussion is in the area of Guamaré, referred to as Alegria II. Parque Alegria is owned by New Energy Options Geração de Energia. Alegria I went into operation in 2011. Alegria I has a direct effect on RDSEPT. The building was delayed due to land conflict, as Bioenergy received approval for the usage of the same land for Miassaba III. The construction of Alegria I consequently started three months later than planned.

For the construction of the wind farms, the infrastructure of the RDSEPT had to be changed. In order to build roads and facilitate the construction lagoons were dried out, sandbanks in upward slopes were erected, and this inhibited locals from living and working, especially fishermen. It also interfered with the reserve's ecosystem.

Approval Process

New developments in the area, which has been designated a reserved area in 2003 are supposed to only be conducted after the Management Council approved of it. The Management Council is composed of various entities in the reserve area.

According to Bioenergy, Miassaba II underwent this process and received approval. Fishermen and locals contradict these claims. According to documents and points of the Management Council for the Ponta do Tubarão Sustainable Development Reserve (RDSEPT) parts of Miassaba II would be in the sea turtle spawning zone, which would infringe on the approval of the construction, in theory.

Stakeholders

Traditional communities

The population in Ponta do Tubarão consists largely of low-income individuals who live on a subsistence economy based on artisanal fishing, collection of crustaceous, small-scale agriculture and herding, and communitarian tourism. The traditional community depends largely on natural resources, of which they possess a deep knowledge due to the fact that they have occupied the area for generations. However, their knowledge is limited to how the local environment assists their socioeconomic activities, making them easy targets to the detrimental actions of the government and companies who own the wind farms. The implementation of the sustainable reserve itself has also been a concept that the population grappled with. Individuals lack the ability to correlate the reserve to an improvement in their quality of life, indicating that the benefits and real objectives of the reserve must be clarified to the community. Furthermore, locals have not received any form of compensation for the negative impacts that the wind farms have had on their lives, and are still waiting for the job opportunities claimed to be created.

Local Scientists/Professionals Opinions

Scientists and university professors from neighboring states that face the same issues argue that the sustainability of the reserve and the wind farms are challenged by the fact that damnifications caused in the construction and operation of the windmills are far greater to the environment and the local population than any potential environmental benefit. They claim that the wind farms are considered environmentally clean because they did not generate any CO₂ during construction, but in reality, dunes were destroyed, trees were cut down, and lagoons were drained to make place for the windmills. This poses an immense threat to the subsistence economy of local communities, which depend on the dunes, trees, and lagoons for their activities. The implementation of the reserve has also posed a challenge to the survival of these communities since it prohibits them from keeping their businesses as usual and does not decrease their costs with energy since all of the power generated is directed to other areas of the state.

Government

Institute of Sustainable Development and Environment of Rio Grande do Norte (Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável e Meio Ambiente do Rio Grande do Norte, or IDEMA)

The institute's goal is to promote environmental politics in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, and ensure that sustainable developments are done for the improvement of the quality of life of the regional population. However, IDEMA has always worked to overcome any opposition to the windmill projects, due to the heightened demand for wind power and strong support from the state and federal government. The institute's actions were explained as an attempt to meet Kyoto Protocol guidelines, but there were no mandatory targets for the country, nor were there any relations between the implementation of wind farms and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that they needed to meet. IDEMA was pressured to expedite the projects, disregarding the social and environmental disruptions that they posed to the local communities.

Companies

New Energy Options Geração de Energia

NEO is a Brazilian private entity that operates in the energy sector. It is regulated by the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL), which is under the Ministry of Mines and Energy, a government agency. The company owns several wind farms in Rio Grande Norte and has received vast support from the federal government as well as financial institutions, with investments of over R$4.1 billion, approximately US$1 billion. The promise of the creation of jobs and cheaper energy has been a major driver for the support of these agencies and the government, despite the negative impacts they have had.

Conflict

The area has faced a conflict between the fishermen and local residents and businesses and bigger businesses before the creation of the reserve area. Initially, the main parties of conflict were locals and big businesses in form of hotels and shrimp farmers. However, after the auctioning of land by the state the situation has shifted. The state has been auctioning land off on the reserve area, which then led to some of the wind farms being built. This inhibits fishermen from accessing parts of the beach and disrupts the ecosystem of the reserve area. Part of the conflict or controversy is that the projects are deemed legal by the state, as one they are sustainable in the sense that they are wind farms and deemed sustainable by the national government, as well as the fact that the law establishing the reserve states nothing about this sort of development specifically. The state is allowed to auction off the land. The point of conflict is the Management Council's approval or lack thereof.

Alegria II and Miassaba II constrict the reserve. The construction pumped out the water of lagoons and interrupted the existing ecosystem in the reserve, which should be preserved, residents claim. Residents stated that wind energy companies used the pretext of clean and renewable energy to destroy the ecosystem in the reserve, by pumping out lagoons and dry lakes, deforestation, and landing dunes. Energy companies state that they compensated locals for the damage caused, which is negated by residents of the reserve.

Another point of controversy is the cost of wind energy for producing states, which do not benefit from wind production as they still have to pay the same price for energy as other non-producing states. The wind farms are altering the people's way of life and the actual land and ecosystem in a reserved area. The establishment of the RDSEPT was done to protect precisely these two aspects, which is why residents received backing from some news sources and other organizations.

Costs

Wind energy was made a priority as early as 2001, but more so in 2011, and as much funding as R$8 bi went into wind energy. Bioenergy, the corporation which owns Miassaba II and another farm Aratua I recorded that both projects were financed by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development, and are estimated at $65 million. Alegria I cost approximately R$330 million, of which 250 million were financed by Banco do Nordeste.

Loss of Traditional Practices and Culture

The local community largely relies on the natural resources that can be found within the area. This includes fish and other water resources. They possess an in-depth knowledge of these resources and the land as a result occupying the area for generations and using them in all aspects of life.  Since the local environment assists their socio-economic activities, the actions taken to construct the windmill farm have destroyed the mentioned local resources and have created detrimental and long-lasting impacts on their knowledge and practices.

Loss of Livelihood

Ponta do Tubarão is composed of many low-income individuals. These individuals rely on an economy based on artisanal fishing, collection of crustaceous, small-scale agriculture and herding, and communitarian tourism. By destroying the land and making room for windmills, their livelihoods have been ruined as they no longer can fish in these areas. As part of the negotiations to build the wind farm, fishermen who live in the area were promised forms of compensation. However, many locals have not received any form of compensation and as a result, are out of work and struggling to survive in the current economic conditions.

Loss of Landscape

The landscape in Ponta do Tubarão has suffered as a result of wind farm construction. Dunes were destroyed, trees were cut down, lagoons were drained to make place for the windmills, mangroves were buried, and archeological sites in the area faced damage. Since the economy is driven by fishing and other small-scale agriculture, this loss of landscape impacted a large scale of activities.

Biodiversity Loss

To install the wind turbines, the sea stretch required sanding. This caused a reduction of sea life in the area. Noise and vibrations from the wind turbines have also affected the animals and birds in the area and contributed to a migration elsewhere. According to one of the councils on the reserve project, part of the wind farm was constructed inside turtle nesting areas. Since the turtles no longer have an area to next, they have left the area.

Reduced Ecological / Hydrological Connectivity

Other issues that the area now faces include hydrological connectivity disruption. The wall and line towers constructed disrupt the hydrological connection between rivers and the ocean. As a result of this, the fisherman is affected and the sands within the water have been altered.

Other Wind Projects in Brazil

Wind projects in other municipalities, such as Ceará, faced similar controversy with local populations. In the case of Ceará, job promises far exceeded the reality leaving the residents without proper compensation for the intrusion and change that came with the construction and maintenance of the wind farms.

The wind farms in Galinhos, also in the northeast of Brazil, caused changes in the fauna in the area, as well as the lagoons, thus altering the ecosystem and the people's way of life and income.