São Paulo – Representatives of approximately 40 countries, especially emerging ones, will be in Rio de Janeiro next week to gain greater knowledge of how hydroelectric plants may aid in their development. The group, which includes Arab nations such as Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, will attend the International Conference on Sustainable Hydroelectricity. According to the Brazilian minister of Mines and Energy, Márcio Zimmermann, hydroelectric energy may be a great vector of economic and social development in less developed countries.
The meeting is the result of a partnership between Brazil and the International Energy Agency (IEA) that has also been joined by other countries, such as France, Mexico and Norway, and takes place under the International Low-Carbon Energy Technology Platform. It is in keeping with an agreement signed in July between Brazil and the United States, providing for cooperation in the energy field and knowledge transfer to other nations. Brazil and the United States have already begun cooperating with three countries in this segment.
According to Zimmermann, who spoke at a press conference last Tuesday (16th), the intention is showing to multilateral organizations that investing in small hydroelectric plants, for instance, is better than setting up lots of solar energy panels "without adding anything as a vector of development to the country at hand," he explains, who underscores that the building of a hydroelectric plant may help establish a small local industry. "Germany has tapped into its hydroelectric potential 100%," said the minister. At the meeting, the Brazilian success case in the field will be presented.
The minister highlighted that the Brazilian energy matrix has 47% of renewable energy sources and that, despite the economic growth and the oil that should come from the pre-salt layer, the rate should be maintained over the next few years. The global average, presently, ranges from 13% to 14%, according to the minister. Ethanol production in the country, said Zimmermann, should go from 26 billion litres to 70 billion between 2019 and 2020, and some of the pre-salt oil should be exported. "It is challenging enough to keep this rate in a country that is growing," claimed the minister of Mines and Energy.
Zimmermann also discussed the unfavourable opinions of technicians from the Brazilian Environment and Renewable Natural Resource Institute (Ibama)regarding the application for a licence for initial facilities of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, in the state of Pará, according to an article published on newspaper Folha de São Paulo this Tuesday. According to the minister, the opinions are not new. The minister did not go into much detail, but stated that the Belo Monte plant is more environmentally favourable than those of Santo Antônio and Jirau, for instance. The plants are being built along the Madeira river, in the state of Rondônia.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
