Water scarcity fee on electricity bills likely to last until April

Last year, Brazil faced its most severe water scarcity crisis in the last 90 years. As a result, the country needed to buy electric energy from overseas and make use of the thermal power stations operating in Brazil. To finance the additional spending, an extra free was introduced on electricity bills for water scarcity. The country’s Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque, however, said it should probably no longer be necessary by March or April.

The water scenario in 2022 is still hard to predict, Albuquerque went on, but it should be better than last year. The minister said that water conditions in 2021 were eight percent better in 2020 thanks to the measures adopted by the government.

“Near the humid period (March, April), we expect to be in much better conditions than we were last year.” Consumers, he said, both big, medium, and small, did their part. “I say it’s been a collective effort,” he pointed out.

Also according to the minister, the government worked so that rationing or blackouts were not necessary. Albuquerque mentioned that countries like the US and China had to resort to energy rationing, which did not take place in Brazil.

Oil auctions and other topics

During a Sunday (Jan. 30) interview on TV Brasil’s Brasil em Pauta, Albuquerque also talked about Brazil’s energy grid, the progress of solar energy—up 132 percent last year—and oil auctions. The output, he reported, surged 14 percent in the last three years.

Since Brazilian oil is low on carbon, it is more attractive to investors. The government also helped providing legal and regulatory security, making the process predictable. “This can only be done with a lot of planning,” he concluded.