Os impactos socioambientais provocados pela produção de energia solar fotovoltaica: um estudo de caso da comunidade Salinas no município de Ribeira do Piauí

Abstract

Given its favorable natural characteristics and governmental incentives, Piauí has become a major attractive center for investments related to solar energy production. Celeo Redes Brasil, which has a working solar park in São João do Piauí, is working on the construction of a new one, with an investment of approximately 1.5 billion Brazilian reais. Ibitu Energia opened the Caldeirão Grande 2 energy complex in the municipality of Caldeirão Grande in April 2023, with an installed production capacity of 252 MW and an estimated investment of 816 million Brazilian reais. All these investments have been bringing visibility to the State of Piauí, however, it is necessary to discuss how the installation and development of these projects are being carried out, and whether governmental inspections are taking place, especially regarding the limits of fauna and flora, as well as the quality of life of the local community, as these are the people who live directly with the changes caused by the arrival of these ventures. In the implementation and operation of a solar park, the landscape can be compromised, with considerable loss of vegetation cover, generating considerable impacts on local ecosystems, modifying the fauna and flora development cycles. Another problem that can be observed is related to the physical and social structure of the cities that receive these investments, usually small towns, which face a series of socioeconomic problems. This research addresses the landscape category through a case study of solar energy production in the municipality of Ribeira do Piauí, specifically in the Salinas community. This municipality was chosen because it is home to one of the largest solar parks in South America, Nova Olinda Solar Park. To understand the dynamics of the landscape that involves this whole process, this study works with the following general objective: To analyze the socio-environmental impacts caused by the production of solar energy in the municipality of Ribeira do Piauí, specifically in the Salinas community. Specific objectives are: highlight the activities developed by the Nova Olinda Solar Park, identify the socio-environmental impacts caused by the production of photovoltaic solar energy at the Nova Olinda Solar Park, and evaluate the local community's perception about the production of solar energy at the Nova Olinda Solar Park in that municipality. The geosystemic method was used to contemplate the objectives of this study, its methodological path involves the use of geoprocessing to process data related to the study, as well as questionnaires and interviews applied to a portion of the residents of the Salinas Community and other social groups that have a relationship or affinity with the proposed theme. In addition to this, the results published by the environmental impact report about the Nova Olinda Solar Park, where these data were discussed and compared with the perception of local residents, were also analyzed. It is known that the production of solar energy provides a series of positive impacts, contributing to the expansion of the national energy matrix and the environment, however, this work points to the existence of socio-environmental impacts influenced by the arrival of the enterprise in question, which makes it necessary to debate this topic.