Wind energy production

capital accumulation and (non) applicability of the Land Statute

Abstract

This work focuses on the development process of wind energy production in Brazil, on the analysis of the private appropriation of wind and the legislation applicable to the relationship between small rural landowners and large companies exploiting wind energy. The landowner leases his property to large companies to generate electricity, giving them his right to explore. The tenant companies, the vast majority of which are foreign, make huge profits, leaving land owners with a tiny share of the total profits obtained by them. Are the Land Statute and its regulatory decree legal tools to regulate wind lease contracts? The objective is to analyze the process of legitimization and constitution of wind energy production, the relationship with the capitalist mode of production and the survey of the regulations applied in judicial and administrative decisions. To do this, we will start from the analysis of the Traldi thesis that deals with the privatization of winds for the production of wind energy in the Brazilian semi-arid region and from the analysis of the legal basis of existing judicial decisions that deal with the contractual relationship between landowners and energy generating companies. The hypothesis is that, given the problems observed, the balance between the parties in wind lease contracts would only be achieved with State action, in order to grant greater protection to small landowners, whether through amendment, reinterpretation or the innovation of applicable legislation. Finally, an analysis will be made of the (non)applicability of Law nº 4.504/1964 (Land Statute) and Regulatory e nº 59.566/1966 to the above legal relationship.