2024-01-11 15:51:13
© Reuters. Electricity transmission towers in Pará 03/30/2010 REUTERS/Paulo Santos
By Letícia Fucuchima
SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil saved 1.3 billion reais in subsidies on the electricity bill for the purchase of fuel in the year 2023, as the connections of isolated communities in the Amazon to the national electricity grid advance.
According to data provided to Reuters by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Fuel Consumption Account (CCC) totaled 11.6 billion reais in 2023, a value lower than that projected by the regulatory agency Aneel for the year and also below 12.9 billion of reais registered in 2022.
The CCC subsidizes the cost of generating electricity in so-called “isolated systems”, communities mainly in the North region that, as they do not receive energy from the National Interconnected System (SIN), depend on local thermoelectric plants powered by diesel oil, a more expensive generation and pollutant.
According to the ministry, the advancement of connections last year was the main reason for the savings obtained at CCC. For 2024, the ministry mentioned that, according to Aneel projections, new interconnections could guarantee an additional reduction of 168 million reais in subsidies.
“In August, we launched the Energias da Amazônia program, in Parintins, Amazonas. On that occasion, we interconnected Itacoatiara, Juruti and Parintins to the SIN, benefiting more than 70 thousand consumer units, which will now be able to enjoy a more perennial and cheap”, highlighted the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, in a statement.
Brazil has 212 isolated systems, concentrated in the North and in river channels, with communities that have a population of around 100 inhabitants, according to a 2022 survey by the Energy Research Company (EPE).
Most of the isolated systems are located in Amazonas, but the highlight is the State of Roraima, which is still completely outside the SIN. The interconnection so that Roraima can start receiving energy from the national grid depends on a line whose works were recently authorized, after more than ten years of interruption.
In addition to advancing interconnections, the government is also working to replace thermoelectric generation with renewable sources in some isolated locations. The main projects in this regard are solar sources combined with batteries.
“This increase is important and we will work to increase the supply of clean and renewable energy to decarbonize the national energy matrix and reduce costs for consumers…”, added Silveira.
Reducing generation costs in isolated systems is an important agenda for the government, as the CCC is the main item in the Energy Development Account (CDE), a charge charged on all consumers’ electricity bills that has skyrocketed in recent years.
For 2024, Aneel projects that the CDE budget will reach 37.2 billion reais, as subsidies increase with various public policies in the electricity sector.
Energy tariffs in Brazil have been a concern for the Ministry of Mines and Energy, which has already publicly announced work on measures to correct distortions that mainly burden consumers in the regulated market, such as households, linked to energy distributors.
The day before, Silveira once again said that Brazil had “lost its grip” on public policies and that the electricity sector had become a “patchwork.” According to him, measures will be issued so that the country can move forward with investments in the energy transition without burdening consumers via electricity bills.
(By Letícia Fucuchima)
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