The most deforested biome in Brazil, the Cerrado lost 700,000 hectares (1.7 million acres) of native vegetation in 2024. Now, it is about to receive a thermoelectric plant 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the National Congress, in Brasília, the country’s capital.
The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), responsible for federal environmental licensing, and Termo Norte will present the project and the environmental studies of the Thermoelectric Plant (UTE) Brasília in a public hearing on June 17, in the Samambaia region.
Carrying out this step is precisely one of the changes in the new environmental licensing of bill 2159/21 — and so far it is one of the barriers preventing the demolition of a peripheral rural school that serves 340 children in Samambaia.
“The change in licensing means that all territories are in a situation of very high risk. There is no longer a need for consultation or to make adjustments. It used to take months, sometimes a year or two, to obtain a license for a large enterprise. Now, licensing has become extremely shortened,” explains the director of the International Arayara Institute, Juliano Araújo.
He warns about the creation of the Special Environmental License, which establishes a faster process, exempting it from certain steps and prioritizing analysis within one year, even for projects that have the potential to cause significant environmental degradation.
The plant of the company Termo Norte Energia will have chimneys 130 meters (420 feet) high, equivalent to a 42-story building. According to the company’s plan, the installation is scheduled to take place exactly on the site where the Guariroba Elementary School (EC Guariroba) currently operates, a rural unit in Samambaia whose students and teachers have already been relocated twice and may be demolished.
“Guariroba Elementary School brings education to children from rural areas, like Boa Esperança, Vista Bela, Núcleo Monjolinho, Ceilândia and Samambaia. … I ask, in the name of the children, please don’t tear down the school. I love this school so much, not just me, but all of us. And we can change this,” declared Sophie de Castro Silva, 10, to the members of the Environment Committee (CMADS) of the Chamber of Deputies on May 13.
To the reporting team, Sophie’s mother, Thayna de Castro Rodrigues, said the school is a “hope” for the residents of the region. “EC Guariroba is a hope, something that brings the community, the school and the parents closer. For example, there will be a small fair where parents can go, bring the products they sell — for those who work with steel, handmade soap, flowers,” Rodrigues said. “She says, ‘Oh mom, let’s plant, let’s make a garden.’ We planted and made a little chive corner, because she brought that idea. Everything she learns there, she brings to me in a way that also adds value to me.”
“The ‘Devastation Bill’ is another piece of this puzzle of environmental setbacks we are facing. It can, in fact, accelerate the licensing process of UTE Brasília by relaxing requirements and weakening environmental control mechanisms,” adds district deputy Max Maciel. “UTE Brasília is a clear expression of this environmental racism that needs to be denounced and stopped with popular organization and social mobilization.”
Tension & uncertainty already part of school’s routine
“We don’t know anything. We were never notified whether there will really be a change, whether the school will be extinguished, closed or built elsewhere. It was never officially communicated. We found out through the environmental impact study of the plant, from the company itself,” says school principal Nathália Pacheco. “The atmosphere is very tense, very worrying, generating a lot of anxiety, both among us professionals and in the general community, students and families.”
When contacted, the Federal District Department of Education (SEEDF) stated that, since there is still no definition about the construction of the thermoelectric plant, “there is no forecast of closure or change of the said school,” however, according to Correio da Manhã, documents reveal that in June 2024 there was a meeting between Termo Norte and the department to discuss the installation.
This is not the first time that students and teachers at EC Guariroba have faced uncertainties due to large projects in the region. In 2016, their old building gave way to a landfill and they had to be moved to a temporary space in the former building of the Samambaia regional administration, about 9 km (5.6 mi) away from where students were used to studying.
Former principal and now teacher Fernando Luis reports that the place was unsuitable for teaching: The improvised partitions made of precarious material allowed the sound of the classes to mix between rooms. “We could practically hear our colleague’s class, and not to mention the distance, because most of the students lived on small farms. So, they were already arriving tired, agitated, stressed,” he recalls.
The current school site, where the company plans to build part of the thermoelectric plant, was inaugurated in 2018 for 4.5 million reais ($900,000). The community fears the space will now be lost. “It is truly a representative project of how education, youth, and climate change are not priorities for any of the governments that come and go, and this ends up being precisely a factor of general dissatisfaction,” says climate activist Ian Coêlho, from Youth for Climate Brasília, who follows the debates about the school’s future.
“The federal government comes with a policy for Brazil to become a global leader in environmental issues, with clean energy production, and [then] comes with a thermoelectric plant. That is, a tremendous risk of causing a serious environmental accident, right?” Luis adds.
Environmental, social and health impacts may go beyond what’s estimated
The environmental impact study conducted by Termo Norte in August 2024 lists 27 environmental impacts of the UTE Brasília project, and only four were considered positive. The assessment, part of IBAMA’s licensing process, points to changes in air and water quality, disturbances to fauna and socioeconomic impacts as the main problems, in addition to the removal of another 31.9 hectares (78.9 acres) of native Cerrado vegetation within a 70.4-hectare (174-acre) area designated for construction.
Among the highlighted impacts, physician and environmentalist Marcos Santa Rosa mentions the impact on the respiratory health of populations exposed to pollutants. He warns that burning natural gas releases nitrogen dioxide, which irritates the airways, in addition to sulfur dioxide and fine particles (PM-2.5), which can worsen respiratory conditions. “Even if the level is restricted to what the [National Environment Council] resolution allows, it is still a problem for more sensitive people — children, the elderly and those with comorbidities,” he argues.
According to Rosa, the situation worsens with local factors such as prolonged drought and smoke from fires in the Federal District, which led to increased cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2024. According to the Health Department (SES-DF), by Aug. 31, 2024, 4,568 cases and 115 deaths from SARS were recorded.
“It will be installed in a poor region, with social vulnerability. And we know that the more economically vulnerable the populations are, the more peripheral they are in Brasília, the more difficulties they have in accessing public health. So, it’s really putting together two problems: a population with high social vulnerability and a pollution problem,” the environmentalist adds.
When contacted by Pública, UTE Brasília stated that “the project of the new plant is aligned with the guidelines of the National Energy Plan and contributes to energy security by reducing pressure on hydric resources, especially in drought scenarios.” “It is important to highlight that the project will operate with natural gas, a source considered ideal for energy transition due to lower CO2 emission levels when compared to other fossil sources,” it added.
“The famous half-truth, half-lie, right? The half-truth is the following: It reduces [impact] when compared to a pollutant [even more] terrible, like coal and diesel,” adds Marcos Rosa.
Last obstacles? The community’s future will be decided very soon
The public hearing on the licensing of UTE Brasília, scheduled for March 12, was postponed by a decision of the 9th Federal Civil Court of the Federal District. The court granted an injunction to the International Arayara Institute, which claimed harm to social mobilization due to the date change and incorrect disclosure of the event.
IBAMA and Termo Norte will present the project on June 17 during a public hearing. The step is a requirement for obtaining the preliminary environmental license, a necessary condition for the company to participate in the 2025 Capacity Reserve Auction (LRCAP) — which could make the construction of the plant viable, should the project win.
The reporting team contacted IBAMA and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the body responsible for establishing the guidelines and holding the LRCAP, but had not received a response at the time of publication. If there is a statement, this space will be updated.
“How are we going to defend the global energy transition at COP30, in Belém, if we are installing a fossil plant in the country’s capital? This stains the country’s credibility and, above all, reveals a brutal contradiction: While the discourse speaks of a green future, the practice continues to expel families, destroy schools, and poison rivers in the outskirts,” says deputy Max Maciel.
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