Why Brazil’s wind farms aren’t benefiting local communities

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes · Last updated: 20 September 2026

Brazil wind farms now supply roughly 35GW of onshore capacity, the fifth-largest national fleet worldwide, concentrated in the north-east where “the best winds” and the worst social indicators meet. That scale has not translated into clear local gains: residents around Serra do Mel say one-hectare contracts (2.5 acres) and 50-year leases have left families unable to farm parts of their 50-hectare plots, while payments are calculated as 1.55% of turnover and hard to audit. A public civil lawsuit filed in May 2025 and Sisab health data pointing to rising complaints since 2022 expose how rapid expansion can sideline nearby communities.

If I’d known it would be like this – that I’d be prevented from planting and harvesting – I wouldn’t have signed that contract with them.

Antonio de Souza

How large-scale wind growth looks on paper and on the ground

Brazil’s onshore fleet reached about 35GW in commercial operation, placing it fifth globally. That capacity is highly concentrated: nine in 10 turbines sit in the north-east, drawn to consistently strong coastal winds and favourable sites that engineers often call among the best in the world.

The industry marked an early milestone when the country passed 10GW in 2016. Expansion since then has been rapid: in one municipality, 36 windfarms came online and transformed local land use, even as basic services such as paved streets and mains water remained incomplete.

The result is juxtaposition: national-scale success measured in gigawatts, and local strains measured in hectares, restricted livelihoods and growing disputes over who benefits and who bears costs.

Contracts, compensation and community impact in Serra do Mel

Land agreements described to neighbours often allocate a single hectare (2.5 acres) to infrastructure, but farmers report that up to four hectares can become unusable within a 50-hectare holding because of access and safety rules. Many contracts are 50-year leases, a timespan that communities say effectively transfers long-term control of plots granted by the state decades earlier.

The typical promise has been stable monthly payments: residents recalled offers of 3,000 to 5,000 reais per month, equivalent to roughly £430–£720, adjusted annually. The formal company formula, however, sets payments at 1.55% of turnover, and 17 of the local power stations sell all their electricity into the open market, at prices negotiated with large consumers far from the towns.

Restrictions are practical as well as legal: farmers say cultivation is forbidden within 50 metres of each pylon, and some people live as close as 250 metres to turbines—France, by contrast, requires at least 500 metres from houses. Complaints escalated at a packed meeting in July 2024 and culminated in a civil class action lodged in May 2025 seeking compensation, relocation, corrective impact assessment and contract reviews.

Health data, safety incidents and the unanswered questions

Primary healthcare records, compiled by the Lavoro Institute from Sisab, indicate that from 2022 — the year most of Serra do Mel’s 36 windfarms became operational — there were rises in diagnoses for panic and anxiety disorders, in sleep-related conditions, and in reported hearing problems. By contrast, a neighbouring municipality with similar social indicators but no turbines showed the opposite trend.

Residents also recount safety incidents: one older local, Edvaldo Bessa, was reported as having received an electric shock when a metering tower lacked insulation, and others say cattle and tractors cannot use areas near lines without risk. Those clauses and experiences weigh on claims that families can no longer work their land and therefore may lose their status as ‘special insured persons’ under social security rules if they transfer more than 50% of their plots.

Voltalia, the developer named by several residents, has said it complies with Brazilian law and maintains community channels including an ombudsman, while denying its projects cause damage. The disagreement over facts and remedies is now in court.

Grid limits, curtailed clean power and the offshore pivot

The industry’s national challenge is systemic: in 2025 operators curtailed 20.6% of the wind and solar generation they could have used, an estimated loss of more than 6bn reais. Curtailment arises when transmission cannot carry generation to demand centres and when market arrangements send power to large contracted consumers rather than local grids.

At the same time Brazil has moved toward offshore projects. Ibama granted the first preliminary licence for an offshore site in June 2025 near Areia Branca, about 18 miles (30km) from Serra do Mel, where Senai-RN will test turbines with the energy supplying the port under a 2025 law. Activists and fishers warn that more than 100 offshore licence applications remain pending at Ibama and that licensing practice will set precedents.

The interplay matters: curtailment and long-distance commercial contracts send revenue away from host towns, while rapid licensing—onshore and offshore—raises the stakes for how contracts, distances and impact assessments are enforced.

Case for and against better local outcomes

The bottom line

Brazil’s wind build-out delivers large public goods in low-carbon electricity—about 35GW onshore and continued momentum into offshore—but the distribution of benefits remains contested. Contracts that tie payments to 1.55% of turnover, 50-year leases and market sales that route most output to distant large consumers have left host communities in places such as Serra do Mel arguing they lost farmland, jobs and quiet. The May 2025 class action, Sisab health trends from 2022 and the 2025 finding that 20.6% of renewables were curtailed (costing more than 6bn reais) make clear that technical success alone does not equate to social justice. Policy choices on distances, auditing of payments and how grid value is shared will determine whether Brazil’s wind boom becomes broadly redistributive or simply accumulates value elsewhere.

What to watch

• watch for Ibama’s final decision on the Areia Branca offshore licence; no date has been set.
• watch for schedule and rulings in the Serra do Mel civil class action that was filed in May 2025; dates remain pending in court records.
• watch for any Aneel or grid-operator proposals to cut curtailment after the 2025 finding that 20.6% of wind and solar generation was curtailed.