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He Brazilian government declared yesterday that energy security is “insured” and ruled out reimplementing daylight saving time this year, a savings idea electric appeared in September when the country was suffering from an unprecedented drought.
“We came to the conclusion that there is no need to decree daylight saving time for this period,” said the minister of Energy y Minas, Alexandre Silveira, at a press conference.
The president’s government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2023-2026) reported in September that it was considering moving the clocks forward, concerned that the worst drought since records began in the 1950s and the wave of arson fires could compromise the operation of hydroelectric plants.
But Silveira affirmed that the largest country in Latin America has its “energy security assured” and pointed to the “beginning of a reestablishment process, although still very modest,” of the water matrix.
According to the minister, the studies did not point to significant energy savings with summer time, which seeks to contain the peak of electricity consumption between the end of the afternoon and the beginning of the night, when solar and wind energy is reduced, that support the vast hydroelectric network.
In practice, the measure consists of advancing the clock one hour between october or November and February.
According to Silveira, the “peak” of cost-benefit occurs until mid-December, but this year the government could only implement it from mid-November to give the opportunity to economic sectors to adapt.
“The cost-benefit would be very small,” said the minister, who noted that the issue will be considered again in 2025 “and all subsequent years, especially when we experience the effects of severe climate change in Brazil and the world.” Daylight saving time was established in Brazil in 1931, but was suspended in 2019.