Banca de DEFESA: DENIS CARLOS DA SILVA

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : DENIS CARLOS DA SILVA
DATE: 26/12/2025
TIME: 13:30
LOCAL: Plataforma Google Meet
TITLE:

THE PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY PRODUCTION AND THE CORPORATE USE OF TERRITORY IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

KEY WORDS:

Corporate use of territory. Photovoltaic parks. Northeast Brazil. State; International capital.

PAGES: 211
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Geografia
SUBÁREA: Geografia Humana
SUMMARY:

The territorial outcomes of the expansion of centralized photovoltaic power generation in the Brazilian Northeast reveal energy as a geographical phenomenon capable of exposing rationalities, selective uses of territory, and contradictions inherent to the contemporary historical period. Energy modernization, driven by globalization, the strengthening of the technical–scientific–informational milieu, and the search for alternatives to traditional sources, has repositioned the electricity sector as a strategic field for transnational corporations and for the State, which increasingly operates in alignment with the hegemonic logic of capital. Since the 2000s, regulatory and institutional reforms have reorganized the Brazilian electricity sector, expanding the role of renewable sources and creating highly favorable conditions for the installation of large photovoltaic plants. In this context, the Northeast has consolidated itself as the main hub for such ventures, not only due to its high solar incidence, but also through the convergence of public incentives, expanding electrical networks, and global corporate interests, configuring a corporate use of the territory in which space is appropriated as a strategic resource. The thesis assumes that this expansion, enabled by state actions, is not oriented toward territorial equity, but toward the functionalization of the Northeast to international capital, reinforcing spatial selectivities and reproducing historical patterns of regional subordination. The objective is to analyze the policy of territorial normatization through state actions that align with corporate interests represented by photovoltaic parks, focusing on mechanisms that produce and reproduce the corporate use of territory. The theoretical framework is grounded in Milton Santos’ formulations—particularly the concepts of State, norms, and territory—operationalized in the categories of used territory and corporate use of territory, and articulated with contributions from Santos and Silveira (2008), Corrêa (1990; 1992), Silveira (2007), as well as Harvey (2008; 2013), Chesnais (1996), and Castells (1999). Methodologically, secondary data from official sources were organized in tables, charts, graphs, and maps, enabling an analysis of photovoltaic generation in the Northeast, its role in the Brazilian electrical matrix, and its territorial impacts. The results show that the expansion of centralized photovoltaic generation materializes the corporate use of territory, supported by the articulation of business rationalities and strong state regulation. Policies and regulations established in recent decades provide corporations with technical, legal, and infrastructural conditions to operate according to exogenous territorial logics. Despite discourses of progress and modernization, this expansion does not promote equitable socio-territorial distribution of benefits and fails to address regional vulnerabilities, deepening spatial selectivities and reinforcing the subordination of the Northeast to national electricity demands and international capital.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Interno - 1486670 - CELSO DONIZETE LOCATEL
Interno - 1291544 - EDU SILVESTRE DE ALBUQUERQUE
Interno - 1172876 - SILVIO BRAZ DE SOUSA
Externo à Instituição - JOSUÉ ALENCAR BEZERRA - UERN
Externo à Instituição - MATHEUS AUGUSTO AVELINO TAVARES - IFRN