With slightly more than 72,000 inhabitants, the northern Minas Gerais city of Janaúba has always had to live with poverty, partly due to the droughts that have historically plagued the region. But now, these same punishing dry spells are being used to create wealth.
Janaúba is soon to be the site of Latin America’s largest solar power complex. Built by Elera Renováveis, the energy branch of Canadian asset management company Brookfield, the project received BRL 1.47 billion (USD 290 million) from Brazilian development bank BNDES.
The entire undertaking cost BRL 2.04 billion and the complex will have the...
