Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha, a natural sanctuary 

The volcanic archipelago of Fernando de Noronha is located off the northeast coast of Brazil, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the only inhabited island in the Group and the largest, with an area of approximately 17 km². It is an ecological sanctuary recognised by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage Site in 2001.

Due to its nutrient-rich waters, the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha is a location of great importance for the feeding and reproduction of tuna, sharks, sea turtles and different marine mammals. These Brazilian Atlantic islands are also home to the largest concentration of tropical seabirds in the Western Atlantic.

In the midst of this rich and delicate ecosystem, the Group's Brazilian subsidiary carries out various R&D and energy efficiency projects, all of which are completely in line with Iberdrola's Policy on Management and Protection of Nature and commitment to a sustainable energy business model.

This commitment to sustainability has made the company a benchmark on indexes such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, FTSE4Good and the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index. 

This project represents a major step forward for the island and for the national electricity sector, as it enables the production of renewable energy in an isolated system such as Fernando de Noronha, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. The initiative reinforces Neoenergia’s commitment to sustainability and innovation. In addition to reducing emissions, the increase in renewable generation helps lessen the burden of the costs and subsidies granted to energy produced from fossil fuels, which are paid by all consumers in the country, says Eduardo Capelastegui, CEO of Neoenergia, highlighting the positive impact of the initiative both regionally and nationally in Brazil.

 Indexes of sustainability

Photovoltaic plants used to increase sustainability 

Up to 10% of the energy consumed on the archipelago comes from the Noronha I and Noronha II solar power plants:

• Noronha I opened in July 2017 with a total of 1,644 photovoltaic panels. It is located on land that belongs to the Air Force and covers an area of approximately 5,000 m², this renewable installation has an installed capacity of 400 kW and generates around 600 MWh/year.
• Noronha II, for its part, was inaugurated in 2018 in the State of Pernambuco. Its 1,836 polycrystalline silicon modules were installed on an 8,000 m² concrete apron built in 1958 to collect rainwater. The system that converts solar radiation into electrical energy has an installed capacity of 550 kW and generates about 800 MWh/year.

In addition to beautiful and sustainable, smart

Fernando de Noronha has been chosen by Neoenergia for the installation of smart grid infrastructure with operations in the areas of measurement, telecommunications, information technology and automation.

Thanks to the Pernambuco energy company, the buildings and the distribution network on the island have modern equipment and the installation of 816 bidirectional energy meters allows the collection of an enormous amount of data for subsequent study, analysis and evaluation. In practice, this smart grid (REI) allows customers greater control of their energy consumption and, through remote access to the system, it allows Neoenergia to identify and resolve any incidents that occur in the operational processes on the archipelago.

From an environmental point of view, this smart grid project stimulates the use of distributed microgeneration and contributes to the diversification of the energy matrix on the archipelago.

With electric mobility 

The Fernando de Noronha archipelago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the first 100% electric buggy manufactured in Brazil, developed by the start-up eION in Curitiba (PR). This vehicle is part of the Sendero Verde (Green Trail) project, an initiative under Neoenergia’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Program, aimed at promoting electric mobility on the island through the introduction of 14 electric vehicles, primarily for tourism use. Neoenergia has been involved in the process from design to commercialisation, carrying out tests and technical assessments.

The electric buggy can carry up to five people, weighs 1,000 kilograms and is powered by a 7.6 kWh battery that provides a range of up to 100 kilometres. Its top speed is 70 km/h, and it accelerates from 0 to 60 km/h in about 11 seconds. It is equipped with disc brakes on all four wheels and has five-point seatbelts. The vehicle can be charged at electric charging posts or standard 20-amp sockets, and will be evaluated in terms of performance, comfort, safety and economic feasibility before full commercial launch.

The project is powered by clean energy generated by two solar plants installed by Neoenergia on the island, with a total capacity of 100 kWp. These facilities produce three times the energy needed to charge the vehicles, with the surplus injected into the local grid, further promoting the use of renewable sources. What’s more, a 100 kW/215 kWh storage system has been implemented to ensure power supply even when solar generation is insufficient.

The initiative is aligned with the Noronha Carbon Zero Law (Law 18.233/23), which bans the circulation of combustion vehicles from 2030. To support the transition, Neoenergia has installed 12 eco-posts with chargers of different capacities, including some equipped with V2G (vehicle-to-grid) technology, enabling bidirectional energy flow. The project, developed in collaboration with various public and private institutions, aims to establish a sustainable and replicable model for electric mobility in Brazil.