Since the mid-1980s, Brazil has used sugarcane to produce bioelectricity for the Interconnected System. In 1987, Power plant São Francisco, belonging to Group Balbo, was the first to export electricity obtained from sugarcane biomass to Company Paulista of Force and Light, Energy, an energy distribution company.

Then, the São Martinho plant, in Pradópolis, São Paulo, and Vale do Rosário, in Morro Agudo, São Paulo, now linked to Raízen, also started selling surpluses to the national grid. This is a pioneering story that always deserves to be remembered for the efforts of people and institutions at the time.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, in 1970 and 2000, the generation of electricity from biomass, dominated by the sugar-energy and paper and cellulose sectors, contributed to the total production of electricity in the country around 2% of participation. However, from the year 2000, biomass gained relevance, with growth rates above 10% per year, increasing its participation in the electrical matrix from 2% to 8%.

In 1987, the sugar-energy sector had only 1,239 megawatts installed, representing 3% of the Brazilian electricity matrix. Ten years later, it had grown to 2,087 megawatts installed, but still representing 3% of the Brazilian electricity matrix. The big leap would come in the following two decades:

• in the period from 1998 to 2007 it grew 144% in relation to 1997, reaching 5,090 megawatts installed in 2007, while the Brazilian electrical matrix grew 59% in the same period;

• in the period from 2008 to 2017, when it reached 11,480 megawatts installed, representing a growth of 126% compared to 2007, while the Brazilian electrical matrix grew 57% in the period.

The participation of the sugar-energy sector in the Brazilian electricity matrix, from 1987 to 2017, also resulted in important growth. From 3% representation in the electrical matrix at the end of 1987 and 1997, it grew to 5% at the end of 2007 and 7% representation in 2017 .

Currently, the sugar-energy sector holds 12,359 megawatts installed in power granted by the National Electric Energy Agency (more than one Belo Monte plant), with representation in the Brazilian electrical matrix reaching 6% and 72% of all installed power from biomass sources in general in the country.

According to the National Electric Energy Agency , from 2023 to 2027 , the biomass source from sugarcane should add another 878 megawatts to the Brazilian electrical matrix, making the sugar-energy sector reach 13,237 megawatts in 2027 .

It is expected that this addition of new megawatts from the sugar-energy sector, in the National Electric Energy Agency database , will be changed and increased with new projects by 2027, as we move forward in the timeline and in the improvement of the institutional environment in the electricity sector and sucroenergetic. If this number of new megawatts is confirmed, the sugar-energy sector will have grown by 7% between 2017 and 2027, while the electrical matrix will grow by 25%. The sugarcane biomass source will fall from a relative representation of 7% in 2017 in the Brazilian electricity matrix to 5% in 2027.

Biomass in general (including all biomass) came to represent 32% of the annual growth in installed capacity in the country: in 2010 , a total of 1,750 new megawatts were installed from the biomass source, showing the potential for rapid response on the part of this generation source.

Current numbers, up to 2027, show that there has been no paralysis of investments in the bioelectricity sector in recent years, as people continue to believe in the activity of generating bioelectricity for the grid, but there is a retraction in the representativeness of the sugar-energy sector in the Brazilian electricity matrix, which we expect to be reversed in the coming decades, considering the existing potential of this sector.

According to the Energy Research Company, in December 2022, a total of 236 sugar-energy units sold electricity to the grid (approximately 70% of the total number of plants in operation). In 2023 , the technical potential of bioelectricity generation for the grid is estimated at 143,000 gigawatts , equivalent to more than twice the generation of the Itaipu plant last year.

By 2032, with growth of 21% compared to 2023, the technical potential of bioelectricity in the sugar-energy sector could reach 173,000 gigawatts, equivalent to more than the consumption of the entire State of São Paulo in 2022, according to a study by UNICA with based on data from the 2032 Ten-Year Energy Expansion Plan.

With reference to biogas for the production of electricity and biomethane , it is important to use vinasse, always respecting the guideline that one should not only think about energy production, but also the condition of the digestate resulting from the process, deepening in studies that try to evaluate and guarantee the quality of the organic biofertilizer that returns to the cane fields, which represents the main asset of a sugar-energy plant.

The Energy Research Company (2022) considers that the sugar-energy sector has technical potential for the export of bioelectricity (from vinasse and filter cake) rising from 14 thousand gigawatts in 2023 to 17 thousand gigawatts in 2032, equivalent to 11% of consumption residential electricity or 46% of the Belo Monte Complex's generation last year.

Finally, 36 years after the beginning of generation for the Interconnected System in sugar-energy bioelectricity plants, there is still a lot of work to be done and progress in our productive sector, in addition to a great potential for investment and expansion of the supply of this renewable and sustainable energy for the network. As inspired and dedicated as the generation of bioelectricity pioneers was, new generations are coming and will come to help meet this challenge of harnessing the potential of bioenergy present in the sugarcane production sector. Let's work!