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Project funded by Germany brings solar energy to an indigenous community in the Amazon, reduces diesel use, and transforms local services related to health, education, and community tourism, in a region where access to electricity has historically depended on river logistics and fossil fuels.
In the Rio Negro Environmental Protection Area, in the Amazon, the Três Unidos Indigenous Community has started operating a solar plant that is expected to reduce diesel consumption by more than 35,000 liters per year and prevent about 111 tons of CO₂ annually.
Benefiting approximately 45 families, the initiative replaces part of the dependency on fuel-powered generators with a clean energy source, which is quieter and more stable to meet domestic needs, community services, and local economic activities.
Enabled with resources from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the system received support from the International Climate Initiative, IKI, and the German cooperation agency GIZ, as part of an agenda focused on climate solutions in traditional territories.
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The execution was the responsibility of the Sustainable Amazon Foundation, managed by the State Secretariat for the Environment of Amazonas, in an articulation that brought together international cooperation, socio-environmental organization, and state public power.
During a visit on May 22, 2026, the official inauguration brought together journalists, indigenous leaders, residents, and representatives of the involved institutions, in an agenda that departed from Marina do Davi, in Manaus, towards the lower Rio Negro region.
Solar energy reduces diesel dependency in the Amazon
Until the arrival of the new structure, electricity supply depended on the activation of diesel generators, equipment that increases costs, produces noise, and imposes limits on the functioning of isolated communities throughout the Amazon.
With the photovoltaic plant in operation, Três Unidos now has a more predictable alternative to maintain domestic activities, collective services, and productive initiatives without fully relying on the purchase and transportation of fuel.
This advancement directly alters local logistics, as the diesel used in generators needs to be purchased, transported by river, and stored in a region where transportation can increase the cost of any supply stage.
In areas far from urban centers, fuel dependency often makes families more vulnerable to price increases, transportation failures, and circulation restrictions, especially when energy is essential for basic services.
Besides the expected savings, the installation reduces emissions associated with diesel burning, one of the most immediate environmental impacts of the gradual replacement of fossil generation with a renewable source within the community territory.
According to data released by IKI Brasil and FAS, the estimate is that the plant will avoid approximately 111 tons of carbon dioxide per year, a volume related to fuel consumption that will no longer occur.
Kambeba Community gains support for services and income
The generated energy is expected to serve homes, collective spaces, and community enterprises, expanding the available structure for activities that depend on lighting, refrigeration, communication, and regular operation of basic equipment.
A survey published by the newspaper A Crítica indicates that the structure benefits 50 homes and six local facilities, including municipal and state schools, a health post, a social center, a church, and the Assy Manana Innovation and Education for Sustainable Development Center.
In the community’s routine, continuous electricity improves food preservation, favors the use of computers, and reduces the need for improvised solutions to keep essential services running at different times of the day.
Also in schools and service spaces, energy stability helps sustain communication, refrigeration, and lighting activities, relevant factors for communities facing limitations in access to regular public infrastructure.
Formed by indigenous people of the Kambeba tribe, Três Unidos is in a region marked by community-based tourism, an activity that involves welcoming visitors, selling handicrafts, traditional gastronomy, and cultural experiences conducted by the residents themselves.
For this sector, the presence of energy for longer periods tends to improve the organization of inns, restaurants, and commercial spaces, which depend on minimal infrastructure to store products and receive visitors regularly.
According to FAS, the stability of supply should directly impact these enterprises, especially because community tourism is part of the local economy and depends on services operating with fewer interruptions.
Community Tourism Enters the Clean Energy Route
The initiative also strengthens the RDS Puranga Conquista, a territory associated with the community’s sustainable tourism activities and the search for low-carbon alternatives compatible with forest conservation.
According to IKI Brazil, the plant contributes to expanding the structure for receiving visitors and supporting income-generating activities linked to environmental conservation, without requiring increased fossil fuel consumption.
In community-based tourism, the community itself conducts the experiences, organizes the reception, and defines how the activity can value culture, territory, and income, maintaining respect for local dynamics.
In Três Unidos, solar energy tends to facilitate the operation of kitchens, accommodations, community centers, and sales points of products made by residents, reducing practical obstacles to tourism activity.
Even without eliminating all the challenges faced by Amazonian communities, the new structure reduces a recurring bottleneck in areas distant from urban centers and with limited access to the conventional power grid.
Regular access to energy can influence education, health, communication, local production, and cultural activities, creating more stable conditions for daily services without increasing dependence on diesel generators.
Leader of Três Unidos, the tuxaua Waldemir Kambeba told the newspaper A Crítica that the arrival of energy represents a “dream come true” for the community.
In indirect speech, he linked the change to improvements in education, health, entrepreneurship, the work of artisans, and the opportunities opened for residents.
International Cooperation Finances Local Solution
Part of an international cooperation agenda focused on climate solutions in traditional territories, the plant brings together external financing, socio-environmental execution, and state public management in a single initiative.
IKI, linked to the German government, supports projects in mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity, and sustainable development, while GIZ operates in technical cooperation related to the implementation of these actions in Brazil.
In Três Unidos, this articulation allowed for bringing energy infrastructure to a community located in a protected area, where the replacement of diesel with solar energy produces simultaneous climatic, economic, and social effects.
Before this stage, the Fundação Amazônia Sustentável had already worked in the community on initiatives related to solar energy, health, and telemedicine, focusing on improving service and reducing the use of generators.
In 2020, the institution reported the installation of solar panels to support remote health care, in partnership with the Embassy of Ireland in Brazil, also aiming to reduce diesel dependency.
Now on a larger scale, the new plant becomes part of the community’s energy infrastructure and enhances the operational capacity of collective spaces, basic services, and productive initiatives.
By reducing the need to activate noisy, expensive, and polluting generators, the system improves practical conditions of community life and reduces a permanent source of noise and fuel expense.
Routine changes with more stable energy
In isolated communities, the availability of fuel, the operating hours of generators, and the need to save energy often guide part of the domestic routine and local services.
With the solar system, Três Unidos gains more predictability to preserve food, study at night, charge equipment, and maintain basic activities without relying exclusively on the activation of diesel engines.
The change also alters the perception of energy autonomy, as the community becomes less exposed to price fluctuations and supply failures that can directly affect the functioning of services.
In this region, river transport is an essential part of access to supplies, goods, and services, making any reduction in fuel dependency a relevant factor for community organization.
According to information published by the newspaper A Crítica, the installation of the solar plant was carried out by Solalux and became part of the set of community equipment aimed at improving the quality of life.
Integrated into the Rio Negro Environmental Protection Area, the system reinforces an energy solution compatible with environmental conservation and the need to keep public services, economic activities, and collective spaces operational.
In the hierarchy of effects, the reduction of diesel appears as the most immediate environmental result, while the improvement of the routine tends to consolidate in the daily use of energy by families and local equipment.
For Três Unidos, the arrival of the solar plant represents less noise, lower fuel costs, and better conditions to maintain education, health, tourism, and local production operational.
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