Lula's government connects Roraima to the national electricity grid.

(Reuters)- Brazil began connecting Roraima to the national electricity grid on Wednesday, a process that will allow the gradual shutdown of fossil fuel power plants that supply the state, the only one in the country that until now did not receive electricity from the National Interconnected System (SIN).

The interconnection is made possible by the completion of the Manaus-Boa Vista transmission line, a project that was tendered 14 years ago and faced a series of difficulties in getting off the ground, mainly related to environmental licensing, as it crosses indigenous lands of the Waimiri Atroari people.

According to the government, the connection to the rest of the country will provide greater energy security for Roraima, as well as reliability in supply and prospects for economic development, allowing industries to establish themselves in the state.

There should also be significant cost savings on the purchase of fuels that currently supply the local thermoelectric power plants in Roraima.

This savings, estimated at over R$600 million per year, will help alleviate the electricity bill for all consumers in the country, since today fuels are subsidized by the Fuel Consumption Account (CCC), paid via a charge on the electricity bill.

Brazil had resumed importing energy from Venezuela this year, after years of interruption, as an alternative to help reduce supply costs for Roraima.

From an environmental standpoint, the government predicted that the gradual shutdown of thermal power plants in the region would reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 1 million tons of CO₂ per year.

The integration of Roraima was celebrated by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during a visit to the headquarters of the National Electric System Operator (ONS) in Brasília.

During the event, Lula emphasized that "few countries" have a fully interconnected electrical system like Brazil, and that this will help provide greater energy integration with neighboring countries as well.

"The day that South American countries become aware of the importance of a system like this, we can interconnect all the hydroelectric potential of South America, and we can become a much greater power, ensuring that no country ever again has problems with energy shortages because we can transmit power from one to another."

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said at the event that the power line connecting Manaus to Boa Vista can transport much more energy than the current demand of Roraima, which opens up opportunities for the project to help bring energy generated in neighboring countries such as Venezuela and Guyana to the country.

Known as the Tucuruí Transmission Line, the project is the responsibility of Transnorte Energia (TNE), a concessionaire owned by Eletrobras and Alupar. In total, it involved the construction of 724 kilometers of 500-volt (500 kV) transmission lines and three substations, totaling R$2,6 billion in investments.