Grupo BBF ( Brasil BioFuels), a Brazilian company that operates in sustainable agribusiness in the Amazon, is setting up 10 new thermoelectric plants to supply the population of 10 municipalities in Marajó, Pará. In all, more than 214,000 people will benefit from the clean, renewable energy produced by the company.
The information was disclosed by BBF's CEO, Milton Steagall, in an interview with Grupo Liberal. The project that is still in the implementation phase will generate energy for the cities of Anajás, Água Branca, Crepurizão, Faro, Gurupá, Jacareacanga, Muaná, Porto de Moz, São Sebastião da Boa Vista and Terra Santa. Operations are expected to start in the second half of this year.
Among the business benefits is the generation of jobs in the region, with the hiring of local labor, among others. "We are replacing the use of fossil diesel oil, which is neither biodegradable nor produced in the state. We are using only biodiesel made from palm oil, produced in the Amazon, which is biodegradable and renewable. This new enterprise will also generate 125 direct jobs and more than 400 indirect ones, in this operation alone", says the entrepreneur.
The company has assets in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, and Roraima, with a focus on oil palm cultivation, biotechnology, biofuel production, and renewable energy generation. In Pará, the palm planting is concentrated in the municipalities of Concórdia do Pará, Moju, Tomé Açu, and Acará; in addition to a soybean instruction area in Paragominas.
In April, the group turned 15 years old, and Steagall's desire is to continue being an example of good bioeconomy practices. "We are proving that it is possible to develop the Amazon without cutting down a single tree. We are generating jobs, taking clean and sustainable energy to the northern population, and making degraded areas productive", says the executive.
"With our work, which respects the palm agroecological zoning in deforested areas of the Legal Amazon, launched in 2010, under order from the Federal Government, we just plant. Today, we have about 75 thousand productive hectares in Pará and by 2025 this number should increase to 120 thousand", Milton details.
According to the group's CEO, the company is leaving to the Amazon the legacy of development aligned with sustainability and social responsibility. "The basis of our project has always been the integration between environmental recovery, the labor of the communities available for cultivation, and the substitution of fossil fuels for biofuels, worrying not only about the economy, but also about the social and environmental aspects," adds Steagall.
"In Pará alone, we have already generated more than 5,000 direct and almost 15,000 indirect jobs. There are also more than 400 families benefited by the group's family agriculture program, where we encourage cultivation, give technical assistance for productivity with maximum efficiency, and also buy the fruit from these people, generating more income," he continues.
Besides generating jobs, the group has also benefited the region with infrastructure and education initiatives. "In the last two years, we have built nine roads, nine bridges, we have maintained more than 600 km of roads connecting communities with urban centers, we have held dozens of lectures in schools and technical courses in the communities surrounding our projects," reiterates the businessman.
Next week, the executive will be participating in an event of the Business Leaders Group, LIDE, in New York (USA), which will bring together businessmen and investors from all over the world. Milton's intention is to present the BBF business model as an opportunity to invest more in the Amazon and Pará.
"We're going to present the BBF project outside Brazil, showing the great opportunity we have in the Amazon to attract investment. We're also showing that the more formal jobs that are created in the region, the more we combat deforestation and generate wealth in Pará, in the North and in the country", he concludes.
Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels) was founded in 2008 by individual shareholders who shared the purpose of changing the energy matrix of the Isolated Systems in the north of Brazil, creating jobs, generating income and reducing the cost of electricity for the northern population, based on a sustainable and clean matrix. Over the years, it has been possible to extend its operations to an even greater mission, to contribute to the country's energy transition, producing biofuels for other purposes as well and consolidating its position as the largest palm oil producer in Latin America.
To meet its objectives, Grupo BBF has created an integrated and verticalized business model, dominating the entire production chain, as a way of guaranteeing the effectiveness of the proposed solutions and preserving the Amazon rainforest.
Grupo BBF carries out all its activities in a virtuous cycle involving socio-economic development, job creation and environmental preservation. The company plants the oil palm, harvests and processes the fruit to extract its oil. From it, it currently produces B100 biodiesel and from 2025 it will produce the unprecedented Green Diesel (HVO) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
With the biodiesel already produced, the company generates renewable electric energy for local distributors, replacing fossil fuels and decarbonizing the forest in the same region.
