The Expansion of Wind and Hybrid Energy in Bahia: socio-environmental Conflicts and Energy Injustice in Fundo and Fecho de Pasto Territories

Abstract

The Northeast, particularly the Semi-arid region, has concentrated the expansion of wind and solar energy in Brazil; however, this advance has generated socio-environmental conflicts, especially with traditional communities. Bahia leads wind energy production and offers the most favorable conditions for the development of hybrid projects (wind and solar). The state has promoted these ventures through public policies and the flexibilization of environmental and land regulations. Nevertheless, this expansion has produced negative impacts on the Fundo e Fecho de Pasto Communities (CFFP), which have traditionally occupied unallocated public lands in the semi-arid region of Bahia. This article aims to analyze the expansion of wind and hybrid projects in Bahia and, using energy justice as an analytical framework, to understand their impacts on the CFFP. Based on bibliographic and documentary research and semi-structured interviews, the study concludes that renewable energy policies and power plants—largely controlled by foreign capital—have generated energy injustices for these groups and transformed Fundo e Fecho de Pasto territories into “green sacrifice zones.”