Drought leads Brazil to import more LNG
The US Energy Department said August 5 that severe drought in Brazil is curbing hydroelectricity capacity and leading to increased imports of LNG as a stop-gap measure.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA), part of the energy department, said Brazilian imports of LNG averaged 0.8bn ft3/d over the first half of 2021. That’s compared with a five-year average of 0.2bn ft3/d.
Brazil usually gets most of its LNG from US exporters and from those in Trinidad and Tobago.
Brazil typically relies on hydroelectric power for about 65% of its electricity needs, though the worst drought in nearly a century is forcing the 12th-largest economy in the world to rely more on imported LNG.
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.
Brazil is not solely dependent on US gas suppliers. Mitsubishi Power Americas in June shipped a turbine to Brazil to be used in a power plant that will utilise associated gas from offshore pre-salt basins.
Once operations begin in 2023, Mitsubishi said the plant is expected to be among the most fuel-efficient in South America and the first in Brazil to use associated gas from the country’s pre-salt basins offshore.