Brasília – By 2020, Brazil should have at least 30 more hydroelectric power plants, which will generate approximately 19,000 megawatts (MW) of energy. Out of these, six have already been authorized and should start operating from 2018 onwards. Twenty four are still pending authorization and should be launched starting in 2016. The forecast is in the Ten-year Energy Expansion Plan (PDE, in the Portuguese acronym), disclosed this Friday (3rd) by the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy.
The document sets forth the Brazilian energy plan up until 2020 and is meant to guide government decisions pertaining to the demand and infrastructural requirements for the industry. The text will be subjected to public consultation up until July 1st.
According to the PDE, from 2010 to 2020, the average rate of growth in electric energy consumption will be 4.6% a year. The expansion of energy generation will require investment of 190 billion reals (US$ 119.4 billion) from 2011 to 2020. Of those, 100 billion reals (US$ 62.8 billion) concern investment in new plants – 55% in hydroelectric plants and 45% in other renewable sources, such as small hydroelectric plants, biomass-fuelled plants or wind farms. From 2011 to 2020, investment in energy transmission should reach 46.4 billion reals (US$ 29.1 billion), of which 30 billion reals (US$ 18.8 billion) should go to transmission lines and 16.4 billion reals (US$ 10.3 billion) to substations.
The demand for ethanol up until 2020 should reach 73.3 billion litres. To meet the demand, the current industrial capacity will need to be increased through both the expansion of production at existing plants and the building of new ones. According to the Ten-Year Plan, investment should reach 90 billion reals (US$ 56.6 billion) by 2020.
The plan poses a challenge to the energy industry, namely enabling this set of projects in keeping with the principles of sustainable development. It also underscores the need for observing social and environmental aspects in energy generation projects. “That is, to implement a power supply expansion strategy that proves more sustainable with each new planning cycle. To have it meet the industry’s goals while observing environment preservation purposes,” claims the document.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
