Empreendedorismo cooperativo e cooperativismo de eletrificação rural: o caso CRELUZ

This study aimed to investigate whether there are evidences of cooperative entrepreneurship elements in cooperative organizations and, if so, what aspects suggest that presence, aiming to explore and identify these elements, especially on the basis of the principles of the cooperative movement. To this end, we performed a case study in the Cooperative for Energy and Rural Development of Eastern Uruguay Ltda. (CRELUZ), collecting data through interviews with the cooperative managers, published institutional documents, in the cooperative’s web page as well as in previous studies conducted in it. The results were obtained through content analysis and the categories of analysis were defined a priori, based on the literature used. The data that emerged from the study suggest the existence of cooperative entrepreneurship at two levels: among the members of the cooperative and in the cooperative as an organization. Moreover, CRELUZ seems to have developed the competence to establish intercooperative relationships at the local, regional and international levels and stands out due to a sustainable generation of energy, research for wind energy and for thermal energy based on urban waste. Keywords: cooperative entrepreneurship, intercooperation, rural electrification cooperative.