In February 2025, installation crews began delivering new off-grid solar systems to 96 families along the Riozinho inside the Mejuruá project area in Amazonas, sponsored by Iamazonia and implemented locally by BR Arbo. The aim is dependable electricity for lighting, refrigeration, study, telehealth and everyday communication.
Work started with the first installation in late September 2024 and now extends to household anchor points and the João Viturino da Silva Municipal School. Each site is designed for local conditions, combining photovoltaic generation with battery storage, protected equipment shelters and safe mounting structures so systems run reliably through the seasons.
Not every household receives the same kit. Solutions are tailored to the place and the people, but the outcomes are shared: food and medicines kept safely cold, children able to study at night and stable power to connect with teachers, health workers and public services.
“Reliable power changes daily life along the river, and it does so without adding to diesel use,” said Carlos Canabarro, President of BR Arbo. “Our approach is practical: off-grid solar where families live, and a cleaner alternative for the town’s grid so both the forest and local economies benefit.”
Outside the project area, a separate initiative is planned for the city of Carauari, a hard-to-reach municipality of over 28,000 residents that still relies largely on diesel generation. The plan under development is a biomass power plant centred on a 5 MW turbogenerator expected to produce more than 25,000 MWh of electricity a year. Residues from wood processing at the planned sawmill would fuel the plant, meeting industrial needs and allowing a surplus to be fed to households.
Together, the river solar rollout and the planned biomass plant show Iamazonia’s model at work: people-centred, nature-based and delivered in partnership. The same approach is backing clean water, internet, schooling and land regularisation, using climate finance to keep the forest standing while making daily life work better.