Overview
Decentralized entrepreneurship opportunities in Brazil
Project website

B-REED was an initiative aimed at meeting the energy needs of under-served rural populations in the Northeast of Brazil.

Like its predecessor, the African Rural Energy Enterprise Development project (AREED), B-REED seeded small businesses that use clean renewable technologies to produce energy in remote locations.

The initiative also built the capacity of Brazilian NGOs to identify and support these small enterprises through their critical start-up phase. It helped as well financial institutions better understand and ultimately invest in the renewable energy sector, and support government in creating sound policy frameworks.

B-REED was mainly undertaken in the Northeast of Brazil, especially in the states of Bahia, Alagoas and Ceara, and used an innovative approach that couples enterprise development services with modest amounts of start-up support. This approach has been used successfully in other parts of the world, but has not been applied systematically in Brazil.

Partners involved were UNEP Energy Programme, URC, and the non-profit organisation E+Co. Initial funding came from the United Nations Foundation (UNF).

For further information visit the B-REED website.

Reference sheet (Intranet)