Brazil needs $9.7 bn to comply with Stockholm Convention

The Brazilian Association of Electrical Energy Distributors (ABRADEE) estimates that the sector will have to invest as much as $9.7 billion in order to honor, by 2028, some of the commitments taken on by Brazil under the Stockholm Convention. The treaty, which was signed in 2004 and expanded in 2010, aims to prohibit the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs)—a set of 21 chemical substances which accumulate in the environment and spread through it with considerable ease.

Among these pollutants is polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), also known as askarel, a nonflammable oil often used for improving energy conduction in transformers, capacitors, reactors, switches and electrical cables. If inappropriately disposed of, it can contaminate the environment, especially the soil, groundwater, and vegetation. In human beings, askarel contamination may cause cancer and other disorders affecting several organs.

“At high temperatures, askarel gives off a very toxic vapor,” said Shelley Carneiro, executive manager at the National Confederation of Industry (CNI). He explained that the contamination risk is only present when PCB is found in amounts larger than 50 milligrams per kilo in appliances, a threshold set by the Stockholm Convention.

Carlos Alberto Mattar, Regulatory Distribution Superintendent at the National Electrical Energy Agency (Aneel), expects a 44% impact on distributors' annual revenue: “If the costs of discontinuing PCB were to be incurred all at once, this would probably result in a 44% rise in the electricity bills.”

“For distribution alone, we expect a need for investments adding up to $9.7 billion. This means at least 3.8 million PCB-based transformers alone, not to mention cables and capacitors, would be disposed of,” Daniel Mendonça, ABRADEE Director of Corporate Relations, pointed out.

Mattar argues that at least 3.3 million liters of askarel will have to be discontinued: “Some 83% of this amount is found in equipment owned by distributors. They total approximately 8.1 million machines with some level of contamination. And the decontamination would require setting up an implementation plan as part of an industrial policy.”

And that is not all. “We'll also face logistics difficulties when taking machines to be checked against permitted contamination levels,” said Alexei Vivan, chairman of the Brazilian Association of Electrical Energy Companies (ABCE).

Letícia Carvalho, director for environment quality at the Ministry of the Environment, believes that the biggest challenge lies in finding technological alternatives to incineration, the method most often used for askarel disposal. “The best disposal method has been a topic of discussion since the 80's. Even so, there is no consensus on the matter,” she declared.

In her view, the costs estimated by ABRADEE for complying with the goals set by the Stockholm Convention “are still tentative, but they provide us with a glimpse of the challenge posed by the agreement,” she added.

“Our biggest challenge lies in the health of workers handling equipment in the power industry. We're also focusing on raising awareness among sectors that know little about the problem,” she noted, referring to companies that provide maintenance for machinery and such shared environments as schools, shopping malls, airports, and ports.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira / Mayra Borges