Water crisis under control: Brazil’s ONS rules out energy rationing in 2022

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The National Electric System Operator (ONS), responsible for coordinating and controlling the operation of electric power generation and transmission, facilities sees no possibility of blackouts or rationing due to water issues in 2022.

The level of hydroelectric plants is in the process of recovery with more regular rains and government measures to preserve water in reservoirs, the agency’s director-general said on Wednesday.

“The projections are good, and we are saying that we will be much better to get through 2022 because there is more water in the reservoirs, either because of measures adopted or because we will have more than 10,000 megawatts at our disposal and more transmission lines,” Luiz Carlos Ciocchi said in an interview with 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 period, 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/Central West, the main area of hydroelectric plants in the country, should reach between 55.9% and 58.9% in May 2022, a jump from the projection for the end of December of 22.6%.

According to Ciocchi, the rains for the hydroelectric plants are being confirmed in some regions, such as the North and Northeast. At the same time, the situation in the South is more worrying with the occurrence of the La Niña phenomenon.

He said that the operator is looking to store as much as possible in the reservoirs of the hydroelectric plants in the Southeast since rainfall is not general for all areas. Still, he stressed that the accumulation of water in the pools would not be done at any price not to harm consumers even more.

“We are not going to fill reservoirs with thermal plants at 2,700 reais a megawatt,” he stated. With the arrival of the rains, ONS can reduce thermal plants and opt for more efficient dispatches from the financial point of view, admitted the director-general.

However, he said that the thermal dispatch projection for January and February should remain around 15 thousand megawatts, the limit already defined for December 2021.

He pointed out that Brazil will have new transmission lines and energy to help the electrical system in 2022.

The head of the system operation also commented that Brazil is no longer importing energy from Uruguay and Argentina but may resume imports next year if necessary.