Brazil aims to reduce electricity load during drought: press
The Brazilian government said August 25 it was calling on customers to conserve energy because of lingering drought, the Reuters news service reported.
“The idea of the program is to reward consumers who make an effort to reduce the load and contribute to increasing safety and reducing the cost of generation,” electric energy secretary Christiano Vieira was quoted as saying.
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Referring to an unnamed source, the news service reported the government is taking measures to reduce the electric load by 10%.
The US Energy Department said earlier this month that severe drought in Brazil was curbing hydroelectricity capacity and leading to increased imports of LNG as a stop-gap measure.
Brazil typically relies on hydroelectric power for about 65% of its electricity needs, though the worst drought in nearly a century is prompting the 12th largest economy in the world to rely more on imported LNG. Brazil usually gets most of its LNG from US exporters and from those in Trinidad and Tobago.
The 2021 trend is consistent with past drought conditions in Brazil. A multi-year drought from 2013-2015 led to a 37% increase in natural gas consumption.