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Solution created in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul shows how a simple technical adaptation reduced rural electrification costs, changed the routine of small producers, and became a reference for expanding access to energy in remote areas where the conventional network was too expensive.
The agronomist from Rio Grande do Sul, Fábio Rosa, helped transform a simple rural electrification solution into a low-cost alternative for remote communities, based on a project started in Palmares do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, in the 1980s.
According to a report by the Institute for Applied Economic Research, Ipea, the model implemented by him had already brought energy to more than 1 million Brazilians, a number that made the experience a national reference in affordable access to electricity.
The experience began when 400 rural families in the municipality were connected to the electrical grid for about US$ 400 per house, while the conventional standard reached US$ 7,000 per residence, according to data published by Ipea.
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This cost difference projected the system as a social technology of great impact, especially in regions where traditional installation was far from the economic reality of low-income families and small rural producers.
Rural electrification in Palmares do Sul
In the early 1980s, Fábio Rosa worked at the Agriculture Department of Palmares do Sul, a newly founded municipality on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul, marked by the presence of small producers mainly linked to rice cultivation.
According to Ipea, the lack of electricity created a direct obstacle to irrigation because pumping water from the underground depended on expensive or inaccessible alternatives for most rural properties.
At that time, about 70% of the local population, estimated at 9,000 people in the report, lived without access to electricity, which limited agricultural production and reduced the basic conditions for staying in the countryside.
Without electricity, families had difficulty operating pumps, preserving food, using household appliances, and organizing the productive routine, in a scenario that also pressured residents to leave rural areas in search of infrastructure in cities.
The solution adopted by Rosa did not emerge as an improvisation without a technical basis, although it became known for its simplicity compared to the conventional models used in the expansion of the electrical grid.
Developed by Professor Ennio Amaral from the Federal Technical School of Pelotas, the single-phase system used a more streamlined structure than traditional three-phase networks and was suited to the modest consumption of the properties served.
Instead of three wires, a single wire carried high voltage current from the transformer to the residence, allowing for cost reduction without applying the same expensive standard used in larger networks in low-demand areas.
Single-phase network reduced energy cost
The savings came from the combination of a single-phase network, cheaper materials, fewer poles, smaller transformers, and the participation of local labor, factors that reduced the cost of connection in dispersed rural areas.
Ipea reports that Amaral also replaced copper wires with iron wires, more accessible conductors, which helped to lower the cost of expanding electrification in communities far from urban centers.
Therefore, the expression “with just one wire” summarizes the technical logic of the solution, but does not mean the absence of engineering, control, or planning in the implementation of the rural electrification system.
In practice, it was an adaptation designed for low-consumption communities, where the traditional model required investments that were too high for poor families and local programs with limited budgets.
The main resistance was not only in the cost but also in the rules of the electricity sector, as the system worked but did not follow the state standard in force at the time.
To enable expansion, Rosa began advocating for the acceptance of the new standard by the State Electric Energy Company, CEEE, until the alternative was incorporated by the company in 1988.
With the official adoption during Pedro Simon’s government in Rio Grande do Sul, the initiative ceased to be a localized experiment and began to inspire other rural electrification actions.
The Ipea report states that the standard was later copied in nationwide initiatives, including the Luz para Todos program, created to expand access to electricity in the country.
Electricity changed income and production in the countryside
In the properties served in Palmares do Sul, the arrival of electricity had a direct effect on domestic routines and agricultural production, especially for families that depended on irrigation to maintain their rice crops.
With cheaper electricity, shallow artesian wells and single-phase pumps began to offer a lower-cost alternative to purchasing water, which significantly impacted the budget of small farmers.
Ipea records that these farmers spent almost a quarter of production costs on purchasing water, a proportion three times higher than the world average cited in the report and considered a barrier to the economic viability of the properties.
In this context, electrification did not just mean indoor lighting, but also a way to reduce expenses, increase productivity, and improve the living conditions of families in rural areas.
The economic results reinforced the social dimension of the project, as the income of the farmers served increased from a range of US$ 50 to US$ 80 per month to US$ 200 to US$ 300 monthly.
According to Ipea, this change occurred after the implementation of the model and associated measures of irrigation and productive improvement, which allowed better land use and reduced operating costs.
The new structure also helped to curb part of the rural exodus, as electricity made life in the countryside more viable for residents who previously saw few alternatives outside the cities.
Ashoka, the organization that recognized Fábio Rosa as a fellow in 1989, reports that the pilot project carried out between 1984 and 1988 benefited 400 families in Palmares do Sul.
A study cited by the entity pointed out that one in three beneficiaries had returned from the city to resume rural life, attracted by the new working conditions and infrastructure.
Project became a national reference
Ashoka describes Fábio Rosa as responsible for bringing electricity and community development to poor rural areas, with an approach based on low cost, practical impact, and adaptation to local reality.
In the entity’s assessment, the first experience of the “Project Light” raised the standard of living for low-income families by bringing cheap electricity to homes and rural properties previously excluded from the grid.
In addition to agricultural gains, electricity allowed for the expanded use of domestic and productive equipment, creating effects that went beyond the installation of poles, transformers, and cables in the served communities.
Ashoka records that, within two years after the project, half of the participants had acquired water pumps, while 83% had refrigerators and 80% had televisions.
The case of Palmares do Sul shows how an infrastructure solution can be decisive when it respects the economic and territorial reality of the families who need the service.
In remote rural areas, the cost of poles, cables, transformers, and installation per residence tends to increase as houses become more spread out, making the conventional grid difficult to finance.
By reducing the connection cost and adapting the system to the families’ consumption, the model implemented by Fábio Rosa created a concrete alternative for communities that were on the margins of electrification.
More than increasing the complexity of the technology, the innovation was in simplifying the engineering to solve a basic problem of access to energy, with a direct impact on income, production, and permanence in the countryside.
