On December 14 and 15th, EDP, through the EDP Institute, in partnership with the Litro de Luz Brasil project, will install 60 solar power lampposts in the community of Nova Jabaeté, in Vila Velha, Espírito Santo.

Litro de Luz Brasil (liters of light Brazil) is a social organization that operates by bringing electricity to low-income communities, not covered by the conventional power distribution network. The street lighting solution is made up of PVC pipes, a battery that stores the energy captured during the day, and an LED lamp protected by a plastic bottle.

50 EDP volunteers, as well as Project volunteers and residents of the community itself will do the installation of the posts. The action will start on Saturday, at Rua Projetada A, going to Avenida França. On Sunday, the work takes place on Rua da Paz until Rua Ernesto Brito.  According to the Associação Dos Moradores do Parque Residencial Nova Jabaeté [Residential Association of Nova Jabaeté Residential Park], 1,200 people will benefit.

The subdivision of the Nova Jabaeté community was not considered regular by public agencies, which is why the Vila Velha distribution network did not reach the region. At the end of last year, the community was recognized as an area of social interest. Thus, from now on, the neighborhood will receive the electricity distribution network, with the installation of standard pole for the houses, construction of medium voltage distribution network, lampposts, among other technical measures for a safe and efficient service with the highest quality.

While these works are being carried out, the distributor will offer the community the public lighting solution designed by the Litro de Luz project. “This action makes a lot of sense to us. EDP, through the EDP Institute, aims to help improve the population's quality of life, whether through education, leisure or sports. At EDP Institute, we closely monitor how this type of action involves and improves the lives of people and the community. We continue with our commitment to state development and our goal of using our energy to take better care of ourselves”, says João Brito Martins, EDP's director in Espírito Santo.

Electrification has several benefits, such as increased safety for walking at night, increased trading potential and nighttime leisure activities. However, in addition to illuminating the localities, the Litro de Luz project seeks to empower participating residents, encouraging the participation of all as agents of transformation in the community itself.

“Through this partnership, we expanded our operations to Espírito Santo, which means another important step in the organization's trajectory in Brazil”, explains Laís Higashi, president of Litro de Luz Brasil.

Investments in Espírito Santo

EDP continues betting and improving its structure in the state. In the last five years, about R$ 1.3 billion has been invested in Espírito Santo. In 2019 alone, more than R$ 300 million were invested in improvements to the electricity grid. Among the works carried out are the expansion and construction of two substations, in Afonso Cláudio and Domingos Martins, as well as the construction and retrofitting of high voltage distribution lines, adding 75 MVA of installed power and 255 km of new lines and networks.

In order to promote the rational and safe use of electricity, EDP has projects in the areas of Energy Efficiency and Research and Development to make communities aware of the conscious use of electricity. Between 2010 and 2018, these actions received more than R$ 93 million and served more than 480 thousand customers. By the end of 2019, this investment will exceed R$ 13 million.

In the social sphere, this year several projects focused on areas such as education, health, sports and income generation were included in the list of initiatives supported by the EDP Institute, an organization that manages the EDP Group's social and environmental investments in Espírito Santo. In 11 years, more than R$ 13.6 million were allocated to social actions in the state.

About EDP in Brazil

With over 20 years of experience, EDP is one of the largest private companies in the electricity sector operating throughout the value chain. The Company, which has over 10,000 direct and outsourced employees, operates in Generation, Distribution, Transmission, Trading and Energy Services. It has six hydroelectric and one thermoelectric generation units, and serves about 3.5 million customers through its Distributors in São Paulo and Espírito Santo. Recently, it became CELESC's main shareholder in Santa Catarina. In Brazil, it is a reference in areas such as Innovation, Governance and Sustainability, having been in the B3´s Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) for 14 consecutive years.

About IEDP

Since it was founded in 2008, the Instituto EDP has invested more than R$ 100 million in social cultural projects, which have benefited about three million people, in about 400 programs throughout the country. Only in 2018, the initiatives supported by the organization favored 80,000 residents of the communities surrounding the Company's areas of operation. The Instituto EDP is responsible for structuring EDP's investments and social initiatives on fronts related to the valorization of the Portuguese Language, education, local development with income generation, entrepreneurship and volunteering, by means of sports, culture and health.  

About the Litro de Luz

Since 2014, Litro de Luz has affected the lives of over thirteen thousand Brazilians through ecologically and economically sustainable solutions to combat the lack of lighting in the five regions of the country. Created in the Philippines in 2011, the global Liter of Light movement was inspired by the solution that Brazilian mechanic Alfredo Moser created in 2002 to solve the lack of light in the home, which is made up of pet bottles filled with water and bleach equal to 60-watt light bulb.

Today, the organization is present in more than 15 countries and has already affected the lives of millions, as well as having received major awards such as the UN World Habitat Awards and the Zayed Energy Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for sustainable energy.