Petrobras Warns of Blackout Risk, Presses for Power-Auction Approval

BRAZIL · ENERGY

As Brazil leans harder on intermittent wind and solar, its largest company is arguing that the country still needs gas-fired plants on standby — and that delaying their contracts could leave the grid exposed.

Petrobras presses for approval of its power plants

Petrobras issued a statement on Monday urging the immediate homologation of the 2026 Capacity Reserve Auction, the mechanism by which Brazil contracts firm, dispatchable generation for the National Interconnected System. The company said the auction is essential to the grid’s reliability and to giving the power sector the predictability it needs. It was one of the biggest winners of the certames, contracting nine plants from its thermal portfolio — a mix of natural-gas and diesel units — for a combined 2.6 gigawatts of firm capacity over 2026 to 2031, with estimated fixed revenue of about R$4.5bn ($895m) a year.

The grid regulator homologated some of the contracts with 2026 delivery dates in late May, after a court dispute, but has not yet cleared the rest. Petrobras has also signalled to the Mines and Energy Ministry an interest in bringing forward to 2026 the start of three contracted units.

The blackout-risk argument

To make its case, the company pointed to projections that the probability of a supply failure could approach 30% as soon as 2026 and exceed 90% by 2029 if no measures are taken to reinforce the system. It said its plants were dispatched in real time to meet demand peaks in May, generating more than 680 megawatts on May 6 and topping 2 gigawatts on May 15 — an increase of some 1,400 megawatts in little over an hour. Without the auction’s revenue and predictability, Petrobras argued, existing thermal plants could be retired, “aggravating the risk of supply failures precisely in the horizon when the system operator identifies the greatest vulnerability.”

Thermal power versus the renewables push

Petrobras framed firm capacity as complementary to, not in competition with, Brazil’s rapid expansion of renewables. Modern electricity systems, it argued, combine intermittent wind and solar with dispatchable sources that can run around the clock to ensure stability at critical moments. The position places the company on the side of market players pushing for the auction’s confirmation, in a debate over how much the country should pay to keep fossil-fuel plants available as backup as its generation mix greens.

Why it matters for investors

For Petrobras, the contracts represent a steady, regulated revenue stream tied to availability rather than commodity prices, a useful counterweight to the volatility of its oil business. For Brazil, the dispute is about energy security at a time when the system operator is flagging rising vulnerability. How regulators resolve the pending homologation will shape both the company’s thermal-portfolio economics and the country’s exposure to supply shortfalls later this decade.