One of the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is to ensure, by 2030, the access to energy, on clean and sustainable basis. In line with this international agenda, Neoenergia, one of the major companies in Brazilian electric sector, argues that education on energy must begin early in childhood, addressing mainly renewable sources and energy efficiency. The National Common Program Base (BNCC), a document that regulates content to be addressed in all Brazilian schools, provides that such topics are brought to the classroom in Science classes for basic education students.​

“Renewable energies contribute to de-carbonization and, accordingly, to the fight against climate change. We need to ensure the access for this and the next generations to more information on the conscious use of energy, for a more sustainable world”, says William Carneiro, Neoenergia’s Renewable Construction manager.​

EDUCATION WITH ENERGY​​

Neoenergia carries out several initiatives aimed at broadening the access to information on renewable sources early in the childhood. Education with Energy project​, under the Energy Efficiency Program (EEP) regulated by National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), is an example of this. Education with Energy deploys several actions encompassing of ages, including the training of teachers and students. In 2019, the project received a R$ 51 million investment and recorded the participation of 111,482 students, 5,974 teachers and 1,102 schools.​​​​
 

In addition to Education with Energy project, the indigenous characters Paxuá and Paramim, created by the artist Carlinhos Brown, are used in several materials, such as comic books, games, videos, aimed to educate children from 3 to 10 years old on the efficient energy use. With this initiative, Neoenergia won the U.N.’s SDG Global Compact 2019 Award in the Partnerships category.​​
 

“Our purpose is to promote change in habits for the energy use, working with children and adolescents, aiming to raise awareness on the efficient and safe energy use. This incentive may lead to a consumer who adhere to sustainable habits in the future”, says Ana Mascarenhas, company’s energy efficiency manager.​

FOCUS ON RENEWABLE ENERGIES​​

Renewable energies are in Neoenergia’s DNA. By 2022, over 90% of the company’s electric matrix will be renewable, divided into hydro, wind and solar energy, a profile cleaner than the Brazilian profile. The company currently has an installed capacity of 516 MW, a number that will be three times higher with the construction of two wind complexes under development in Northeast, reaching 1.6 GW.​