LatinNews Daily - 04 June 2021

* Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has said that “we have the problem of the worst water crisis in the history of Brazil”, implying this could affect the country’s energy supply. Bolsonaro’s comments come several days after the government’s electricity sector monitoring committee (CMSE) issued a ‘water risk’ warning following reports that the latest rainy season, which ended in April, was the driest in 91 years, and indicated that it is working to avoid electricity rationing. Following this, the national electricity agency (Aneel) announced an increase in electricity tariffs for the month of June, and the national water agency (ANA) declared a ‘critical’ situation of water scarcity in the Paraná hydrographic region, which spans five states in the south-east, south, and centre-west of the country. The mines & energy minister, Bento Albuquerque, has for now discarded the possibility of blackouts or energy rationing, and has said that the long-term solution is to reduce the dependency of Brazil’s energy matrix on hydroelectric sources. Almost two-thirds of Brazil’s electricity supply comes from hydroelectric dams, and Albuquerque has said that the aim is to bring this down to 48% within the next decade. 

End of preview - This article contains approximately 187 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial