Proposal of criteria and minimum requirements for environmental licensing of photovoltaic power plants in Brazil

ABSTRACT

Photovoltaic power generation is growing in Brazil. It is expected that installed capacity of photovoltaic power plants (PVPP) will exceed 3 GW within a few years. This technology is known to have less environmental impacts than other traditional forms of energy generation, however its environmental impacts should be considered in the environmental licensing process. In Brazil there is no federal legislation establishing the criteria or requirements for licensing this type of power plants. Some states have created their own legislation, whose criteria differ widely. This lack of national standardization causes licensing agencies’ insecurity, difficulty in approving studies, increase in costs and deadlines, and has caused many projects to be unfeasible. Therefore, this study did an analysis and comparison of 12 states’ legislation regarding environmental licensing of PVPPs. This analysis based the proposal of clear, objective and standardized criteria for PVPPs licencing. It is proposed to normally classify the PVPPs as having low environmental impact, with simplified licensing, issuing Preliminary and Installation License in a single step. The proposed criteria for classification in size are installed power and directly occupied area. Regarding the pollution potential, the criteria are suppression of native vegetation (and/or in a permanent preservation area); and location in environmental fragile areas. The joint evaluation of these criteria defines the type of environmental study to be required for licensing. The main aspects and environmental impacts that should be addressed are listed. These unified criteria are a tool to promote both development of PVPP projects and the protection of the environment, by minimizing their potential environmental impacts.

Keywords:
photovoltaic power plants; environmental licensing; environmental impacts of photovoltaic power plants