Assessment of socioeconomic impacts of access to electricity in Brazilian Amazon: case study in two communities in Mamirauá Reserve

Abstract Access to energy is a condition for economic development and for a better way of life. The Brazilian Amazon region has some challenges regarding the electrification of small rural populations, since there are some restrictions to extending the grid to all villages. In order to discover how electricity has changed the life of the Amazonian riverine population, two communities were selected: one was partially electrified by Solar Home Systems (SHS) and the other was almost totally electrified by grid extension. In both communities, questionnaires were applied, with questions related to electricity consumption patterns in residential and productive activities and complementary energy sources, as well as open questions about electricity access impacts. In both communities, impacts were positive mainly due to a reduction in complementary energy source consumption. However, people with electricity supplied by grid described a greater impact in terms of their productive activities because of the higher electricity supply.