The Ramacrisna Institute will inaugurate, this Wednesday (12/01), at 10 am, a photovoltaic power plant at the Associação Educativa e Cultural de Igarapé (ASSECIG). The plant will have a generating capacity of up to 1905 kW/h and was made possible by the Ampliando Fronteiras II project, carried out by the Ramacrisna Institute with resources from BrazilFoundation. The project also has the support of the Igarapé City Hall and the Rotary Club Belo Horizonte Liberdade.

The photovoltaic plant will make it possible to reduce ASSECIG’s cost of energy consumption by up to R$ 2 thousand, also enabling the expansion of social actions through the reallocation of resources that were previously used to cover these expenses. The energy generated by the photovoltaic panels will be connected to the local utility (Cemig) through the system called NET METERING and the estimated duration of the photovoltaic plant is twenty-five years.

The vice president of Ramacrisna, Solange Bottaro, emphasizes that the methodology of the Rotary Club Belo Horizonte Liberdade was fundamental for the realization of the investment. “Rotary has a strong role in promoting the social development of vulnerable communities, in environmental preservation and in the professional qualification of young people. This experience contributed a lot for us to be able to carry out this project”, she highlighted.

“Social organizations usually do not get partnerships that maintain their basic expenses such as payment of support staff, maintenance of the physical structure, cleaning of the space, kitchen, water, electricity, telephone, among others, which is a constant concern for managers. In this way, the solar plant represents a great gain in financial sustainability”, says Solange.

Training – The installation of the plant also provided practical classes in the professional qualification courses in Electrician and Installation and Maintenance of Photovoltaic Plates, offered by Ramacrisna in Igarapé. The Ampliando Fronteiras II project also offers courses in Automotive Mechanics, HR Assistant, Logistics, Excel and Baker. The latter will even have its graduation celebrated on the inauguration day of the plant.

The courses are completely free and students receive a uniform, virtual teaching material and a certificate. So far, 217 young people have benefited from the project.