Electricity consumption in Brazil is expected to grow 1.9% year-on-year in February to reach 72,589MWa (average megawatts), the national grid administrator ONS reported.
The energy load in the southeast / central-west subsystem is expected to increase 2.7% to 42,196MWa, while in the north and south it will rise 1.9% (5,709MWa) and 0.7% (13,194MWa ), respectively. Furthermore, demand in the northeast of the country is expected to decline 0.5% to 11,491MWa.
This growth in consumption is mainly explained by the recovery of the industrial sector and high temperatures. However, the forecast does not yet reflect the effects of new social distancing measures that have been implemented in some parts of the country amid a new surge in COVID-19 cases, ONS added.
According to the operator, the levels of the water reservoirs in the hydroelectric plants should reach 68.1% in the south, 52.1% in the northeast, 40.4% in the north and 28.7% in the southeast / center -West at the end of February.
The marginal operating cost (that is, the cost per unit of energy produced to satisfy the additional load in the system) in the southern region would fall 17.0% this week to 147.53 reais / MWh (US $ 27.13 / MWh) , compared to 177.73 reais / MWh last week. The cost in the southeast-central-west, northeast and north areas is expected to decline 16.7% to 148.01 reais / MWh.
YELLOW FLAG
The yellow flag rate will remain in place in February, at a cost of 1,343 reais per 100kWh consumed, power regulator Aneel reported on Friday.
The agency explained that, despite the fact that February is a relatively wet time of year, the levels of the country’s main water reservoirs have slowly recovered due to low volumes of rain.
The tariff flag system indicates generation conditions and costs for consumers. When production in hydroelectric plants, whose energy is cheaper than thermoelectric ones, is favorable, Aneel activates the green flag. In worse conditions, yellow or red flags are activated (level 1 or 2).
Hydropower represents 58.6% of Brazil’s total installed generation capacity of 174GW.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN 2020
National electricity consumption fell 1.5% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to a recent study by the Electric Power Commercialization Chamber (CCEE).
The decline was primarily due to the economic downturn amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Consumption in the free energy market grew 2.8%, while demand fell 3.4% in the regulated environment.
Regarding the consumption of the companies that participate in the free contract environment, large decreases were observed in the automotive (-11.6%) and transportation (-6.3%) segments. Sanitation and retail trade, for their part, experienced growth of 24% and 12.1%, respectively.
–
