The ONS (National Electric System Operator) does not see any possibility of blackout or rationing due to water issues in 2022, since the level of hydroelectric plants is in the process of recovery with more regular rainfall and government measures to preserve water in the reservoirs, he said this Wednesday (15) the director general of the agency.
“Projections are good and we are saying that we will be much better to cross 2022 because there is more water in the dams, either because of measures adopted, or because we will have another 10,000 megawatts available and more transmission lines,” said Luiz Carlos Ciocchi, in an interview to journalists.
“We have no reason to worry about blackouts, shortages or rationing,” he added.
Brazil’s hydroelectric reservoirs are expected to reach an average capacity of 58% to 62.1% in May 2022, at the end of the wet season, the most comfortable level after the worst drought in more than 90 years in 2021, he projected.
He also estimated that the level of reservoirs in the Southeast/Midwest, the main area of ​​hydroelectric power plants in the country, should reach between 55.9% and 58.9% in May 2022, a jump compared to the projection for the end of December, of 22.6%.
According to Ciocchi, rains for hydroelectric plants have been confirmed in some regions, such as the North and Northeast, while the situation in the South is more worrying with the occurrence of the La Niña phenomenon.
He said that the operator seeks to store as much as possible in the Southeast hydroelectric reservoirs, since rainfall is not general to all areas, but he stressed that the accumulation of water in the reservoirs will not be done at any price, so as not to further harm the consumers.
“We are not going to fill reservoirs with thermal at R$ 2,700 per megawatt,” he stated.
With the arrival of the rains, the ONS can reduce thermal plants and opt for more efficient dispatches from a financial point of view, admitted the general director.
However, he said that the projection for thermal dispatch for January and February should remain around 15,000 megawatts, a limit already defined for December 2021.
He pointed out that Brazil will have new transmission lines and new energy to help the electrical system in 2022.
The head of the system’s operation also commented that Brazil is no longer importing energy from Uruguay and Argentina, but may resume importing next year if necessary.
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