Energy policy of Brazil
Encyclopedia
Brazil
is the 10th largest energy
consumer in the world and the largest in South America
. At the same time, it is an important oil
and gas
producer in the region and the world's second largest ethanol fuel
producer.
The governmental agencies responsible for energy policy are the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the National Council for Energy Policy
(CNPE, in the Portuguese-language
acronym), the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels
(ANP) and the National Agency of Electricity
(ANEEL).
State-owned companies Petrobras
and Eletrobrás
are the major players in Brazil
's energy sector, as well as Latin America
's.
, and investments in power generation. The state monopoly of oil and gas exploration was ended, and energy subsidies
were reduced. However, the government retained monopoly control of key energy complexes and administered the price of certain energy products.
Current government policies concentrate mainly on the improvement of energy efficiency, in both residential and industrial sectors, as well as increasing renewable energy. Further restructuring of the energy sector will be one of the key issues for ensuring sufficient energy investments to meet the rising need for fuel and electricity.
. As of today, more than 50 oil companies are engaged in oil exploration. The only global oil producer is Petrobras, with output of more than 2 Moilbbl of oil equivalent per day. It is also a major distributor of oil products, and owns oil refineries and oil tankers.
In 2006, Brazil had 11.2 Goilbbl the second-largest proven oil reserves in South America after Venezuela. The vast majority of proven reserves are located at Campos
and Santos offshore basins on the southeast coast of Brazil. In November 2007, Petrobras announced that it believes the offshore Tupi oil field
has between 5 and 8 Goilbbl of recoverable light oil and neighbouring fields may even contain more, which all in all could result in Brazil becoming one of the largest producers of oil in the world.
Brazil is a net exporter of oil since 2011. However, the country still imports some light oil
from the Middle East
, because several refineries, built in the 1960s and 1970s under the military government, are not suited to process the heavy oil
in Brazilian reserves, discovered decades later.
Transpetro
, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobras, operates a crude oil transport network. The system consists of 6000 kilometres (3,728.2 mi) of crude oil pipelines, coastal import terminals, and inland storage facilities.
At the end of 2005, the proven reserves of Brazil's natural gas were 306 x 109 m³, with possible reserves expected to be 15 times higher. Until recently natural gas was produced as a by-product of the oil industry. The main reserves in use are located at Campos and Santos Basins. Other natural gas basins include Foz do Amazonas, Ceara e Potiguar, Pernambuco e Paraíba,
Sergipe/Alagoas, Espírito Santo
and Amazonas (onshore). Petrobras controls over 90 percent of Brazil’s natural gas reserves.
Brazil's inland gas pipeline systems are operated by Petrobras subsidiary Transpetro. In 2005, construction began on the Gas Unificação (Gasun pipeline)
which will link Mato Grosso do Sul
in southwest Brazil, to Maranhão
in the northeast. China
’s Sinopec
is a contractor for the Gasene pipeline
, which will link the northeast and southeast networks. Petrobras is also constructing the Urucu-Manaus pipeline
, which will link the Urucu gas reserves to power plants in the state of Amazonas.
In 2005, the gas production was 18.7 x 109 m³, which is less than the natural gas consumption of Brazil. Gas imports come mainly from Bolivia
's Rio Grande bassin through the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline (Gasbol pipeline)
, from Argentina
through the Transportadora de Gas de Mercosur pipeline (Paraná
-Uruguayana pipeline), and from LNG import. Brazil has held talks with Venezuela
and Argentina to build a new pipeline system Gran Gasoducto del Sur
linking the three countries; however, the plan has not moved beyond the planning stages.
, Santa Catarina
and Paraná
.
production after Estonia. Oil shale resources lie in São Mateus do Sul
, Paraná
, and in Vale do Paraíba. Brazil has developed the world’s largest surface oil shale pyrolysis retort Petrosix
, operated by Petrobras. Production in 1999 was about 200,000 tonnes.
production centre in Minas Gerais
state was shut down in 1997 and was replaced by a new plant at Lagoa Real
in Bahia. There is a plan to build another production center at Itatiaia
.
The major power company is Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras (Eletrobrás)
, which together with its subsidiaries generates and transmits approximately 60% of Brazil's electric supply. The largest private-owned power company is Tractebel Energia
. An independent system operator (Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico - ONS), responsible for the technical coordination of electricity dispatching and for the management of transmission services, and a wholesale market were created in 1998.
During the electricity crisis in 2001, the government launched a program to build 55 gas-fired power stations with a total capacity of 22 GW, but only 19 power stations were built, with a total capacity of 4,012 MW.
The installed capacity is 59 GW. Brazil co-owns the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant on the Paraná River
located on the border between Brazil
and Paraguay
, which is the world's second largest operational hydroelectric power plant with installed generation capacity of 14 GW
by 20 generating units of 700 MW
each.
Due the Brazil's dependence on hydroelectric power and lack of investments in transmission, the reserves were being used for several years, which led to the dams having a low level of water. Then after another bad year of rain, in June 2001, the government was forced to ration electricity usage, this ended in late 2001. Nowadays due to the new rules of the sector, new power lines were built as were new power plants. Today the load is even bigger than it was in 2001 but the system is much safer.
, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eletrobrás
. Nuclear energy is produced by two reactors at Angra
. It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA) on the Praia de Itaorna in Angra dos Reis
, Rio de Janeiro
. It consists of two pressurized water reactor
s, Angra I, with capacity of 657 MW, connected to the power grid in 1982, and Angra II, with capacity of 1,350 MW, connected in 2000. A third reactor, Angra III, with a projected output of 1,350 MW, is planned to be finished by 2014 and work has been paralyzed due to environmental concerns, but the licenses are being approved and the heavy construction work will start on 2009. By 2025 Brazil plans to build seven more reactors.
In February 2008 President Lula da Silva signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Argentina.
Due to its ethanol fuel
production, Brazil has sometimes been described as a bio-energy superpower. Ethanol fuel is produced from sugar cane. Brazil has the largest sugar cane crop in the world, and is the largest exporter of ethanol in the world. With the 1973 oil crisis
, the Brazilian government initiated in 1975 the Pró-Álcool program. The Pró-Álcool or Programa Nacional do Álcool (National Alcohol Program) was a nation-wide program financed by the government to phase out all automobile fuels derived from fossil fuels in favour of ethanol. The program successfully reduced by 10 million the number of cars running on gasoline in Brazil, thereby reducing the country's dependence on oil imports.
The production and consumption of biodiesel
is expected to reach to 2% of diesel fuel in 2008 and 5% in 2013.
Brazil's peat reserves are estimated at 25 billion tonnes, which is the most in South America. However, no production of peat for fuel has yet been developed. Brazil produces 65 million tonnes of fuelwood per year. The annual production of charcoal is about 6 million tonnes, which is used in the steel industry. The cogeneration potential of agricultural and livestock residues varies from 4 GW to 47 GW by 2025.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
is the 10th largest energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
consumer in the world and the largest in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. At the same time, it is an important oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
producer in the region and the world's second largest ethanol fuel
Ethanol fuel
Ethanol fuel is ethanol , the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. World ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres...
producer.
The governmental agencies responsible for energy policy are the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the National Council for Energy Policy
National Council for Energy Policy
The Brazilian National Council of Energy Policy was created by the law no. 9.478/1997 , also known as Petroleum Law. The council is the governmental organ of Brazil responsible for advise the Presidency of the Republic and has the objective of elaborating policies for the electric sector of the...
(CNPE, in the Portuguese-language
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
acronym), the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels
National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (Brazil)
The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels is the federal government agency linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy responsible for the regulation of the oil sector.-External links:*...
(ANP) and the National Agency of Electricity
Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency
The Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency is an autarchy of the government of Brazil linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. Its stated goal is to "provide favorable conditions for the electricity market to develop in a balanced environment amongst agents, for the benefit of society."...
(ANEEL).
State-owned companies Petrobras
Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...
and Eletrobrás
Eletrobrás
Eletrobras is a major Brazilian power utility. It's also Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth largest in the world and is also the fourth largest clean energy company in the world. It is currently expanding its operations in the continent, as well as in Africa. The company's full...
are the major players in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
's energy sector, as well as Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
's.
Reforms of the energy sector
At the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, Brazil's energy sector underwent market liberalization. In 1997, the Petroleum Investment Law was adopted, establishing a legal and regulatory framework, and liberalizing oil production. The key objectives of the law were the creation of the CNPE and the ANP, increased use of natural gas, increased competition in the energy marketEnergy market
Energy markets are those commodities markets that deal specifically with the trade and supply of energy. Energy market may refer to an electricity market, but can also refer to other sources of energy...
, and investments in power generation. The state monopoly of oil and gas exploration was ended, and energy subsidies
Energy subsidies
Energy subsidies are measures that keep prices for consumers below market levels or for producers above market levels, or reduce costs for consumers and producers...
were reduced. However, the government retained monopoly control of key energy complexes and administered the price of certain energy products.
Current government policies concentrate mainly on the improvement of energy efficiency, in both residential and industrial sectors, as well as increasing renewable energy. Further restructuring of the energy sector will be one of the key issues for ensuring sufficient energy investments to meet the rising need for fuel and electricity.
Oil
Brazil is the world's 15th largest oil producer. Up to 1997, the oil monopoly belonged to Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras)Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...
. As of today, more than 50 oil companies are engaged in oil exploration. The only global oil producer is Petrobras, with output of more than 2 Moilbbl of oil equivalent per day. It is also a major distributor of oil products, and owns oil refineries and oil tankers.
In 2006, Brazil had 11.2 Goilbbl the second-largest proven oil reserves in South America after Venezuela. The vast majority of proven reserves are located at Campos
Campos Basin
Campos Basin is a petroleum rich area located offshore of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It has a total area of 100,000 square kilometres, with 40 fields discovered and operated by Petrobras....
and Santos offshore basins on the southeast coast of Brazil. In November 2007, Petrobras announced that it believes the offshore Tupi oil field
Tupi oil field
Tupi oil field is a large oil field located in the Santos Basin, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The field was named in honor of the Tupi people and is considered to be Western Hemisphere's largest oil discovery of the last 30 years.-History:...
has between 5 and 8 Goilbbl of recoverable light oil and neighbouring fields may even contain more, which all in all could result in Brazil becoming one of the largest producers of oil in the world.
Brazil is a net exporter of oil since 2011. However, the country still imports some light oil
Light crude oil
Light crude oil is liquid petroleum that has a low density and flows freely at room temperature. It has a low viscosity, low specific gravity and high API gravity due to the presence of a high proportion of light hydrocarbon fractions. It generally has a low wax content...
from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, because several refineries, built in the 1960s and 1970s under the military government, are not suited to process the heavy oil
Heavy crude oil
Heavy crude oil or extra heavy crude oil is any type of crude oil which does not flow easily. It is referred to as "heavy" because its density or specific gravity is higher than that of light crude oil. Heavy crude oil has been defined as any liquid petroleum with an API gravity less than 20°.Extra...
in Brazilian reserves, discovered decades later.
Transpetro
Transpetro
Petrobras Transporte S.A. is the largest oil and gas transportation company of Brazil. Transpetro works with transportation and storage activities of oil and byproducts, ethanol, biofuels and natural gas...
, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobras, operates a crude oil transport network. The system consists of 6000 kilometres (3,728.2 mi) of crude oil pipelines, coastal import terminals, and inland storage facilities.
Natural gas
Sergipe/Alagoas, Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...
and Amazonas (onshore). Petrobras controls over 90 percent of Brazil’s natural gas reserves.
Brazil's inland gas pipeline systems are operated by Petrobras subsidiary Transpetro. In 2005, construction began on the Gas Unificação (Gasun pipeline)
GASUN
The National Unification Gas Pipeline will be a natural gas pipeline in Brazil. GASUN will connect the Gasbol pipeline with the northern Amazon and the Northeast states allowing transportation of Bolivian gas into these regions...
which will link Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul is one of the states of Brazil.Neighboring Brazilian states are Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay and Bolivia to the west. The economy of the state is largely based on agriculture and cattle-raising...
in southwest Brazil, to Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
in the northeast. China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
’s Sinopec
Sinopec
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited , or Sinopec Limited , is a majority owned subsidiary of state owned company Sinopec Group. Sinopec Limited is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York ....
is a contractor for the Gasene pipeline
GASENE
The Southeast Northeast Interconnection Gas Pipeline is a long under construction natural gas pipeline system in Brazil, which will connect existing southeastern gas system to the Northeastern gas system. GASENE starts from the Cabiúnas Terminal in Rio de Janeiro and runs to the city of Catu in...
, which will link the northeast and southeast networks. Petrobras is also constructing the Urucu-Manaus pipeline
Urucu-Manaus pipeline
The Urucu–Manaus pipeline is a natural gas pipeline in Brazil. It allows use of the natural gas from Urucu, which is the largest onshore natural gas reserve in Brazil. The gas is used to substitute diesel and fuel oil for the electricity production in the state of Amazonas, and the pipeline...
, which will link the Urucu gas reserves to power plants in the state of Amazonas.
In 2005, the gas production was 18.7 x 109 m³, which is less than the natural gas consumption of Brazil. Gas imports come mainly from Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
's Rio Grande bassin through the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline (Gasbol pipeline)
GASBOL
The Bolivia-Brazil pipeline is the longest natural gas pipeline in South America. The long pipeline connects Bolivia's gas sources with the south-east regions of Brazil....
, from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
through the Transportadora de Gas de Mercosur pipeline (Paraná
Paraná, Entre Ríos
Paraná is the capital city of the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province...
-Uruguayana pipeline), and from LNG import. Brazil has held talks with Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and Argentina to build a new pipeline system Gran Gasoducto del Sur
Gran Gasoducto del Sur
Gran Gasoducto del Sur was a proposed 8,000-15,000-kilometer long natural gas pipeline to connect Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina...
linking the three countries; however, the plan has not moved beyond the planning stages.
Coal
Brazil has total coal reserves of about 30 billion tonnes, but the deposits vary by the quality and quantity. The proved recoverable reserves are around 10 billion tonnes. In 2004 Brazil produced 5.4 million tonnes of coal, while coal consumption reached 21.9 million tonnes. Almost all of Brazil’s coal output is steam coal, of which about 85% is fired in power stations. Reserves of subbituminous coal are located mostly in the states of Rio Grande do SulRio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
, Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina (state)
Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...
and Paraná
Paraná (state)
Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...
.
Oil shale
Brazil has the world's second largest known oil shale (the Irati shale and lacustrine deposits) resources and has second largest shale oilShale oil
Shale oil, known also as kerogen oil or oil-shale oil, is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock into synthetic oil and gas...
production after Estonia. Oil shale resources lie in São Mateus do Sul
São Mateus do Sul
São Mateus do Sul is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, Paraná
Paraná (state)
Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...
, and in Vale do Paraíba. Brazil has developed the world’s largest surface oil shale pyrolysis retort Petrosix
Petrosix
Petrosix is currently the world’s largest surface oil shale pyrolysis retort with an diameter vertical shaft kiln, operational since 1992. It is located in São Mateus do Sul, Brazil, and it is owned and operated by the Brazil energy company Petrobras. Petrosix means also the Petrosix process, an...
, operated by Petrobras. Production in 1999 was about 200,000 tonnes.
Uranium
Brazil has the 6th largest uranium reserves in the world. Deposits of uranium are found in eight different states of Brazil. Proven reserves are 162,000 tonnes. Cumulative production at the end of 2002 was less than 1,400 tonnes. The Poços de CaldasPoços de Caldas
Poços de Caldas is a city and municipality in south-western Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2009 was 151,449 inhabitants...
production centre in Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
state was shut down in 1997 and was replaced by a new plant at Lagoa Real
Lagoa Real
Lagoa Real is a town and municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil.-References:...
in Bahia. There is a plan to build another production center at Itatiaia
Itatiaia
Itatiaia is a Brazilian municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is located at an altitude of 390 meters. Its population was 30,168 and its area is 224.96 km²....
.
Electricity
Power sector reforms were launched in the mid-1990s and a new regulatory framework was applied in 2004. In 2004, Brazil had 86.5 GW of installed generating capacity and it produced 387 Twh of electricity. As of today 66% of distribution and 28% of power generation is owned by private companies. In 2004, 59 companies operated in power generation and 64 in electricity distribution.The major power company is Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras (Eletrobrás)
Eletrobrás
Eletrobras is a major Brazilian power utility. It's also Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth largest in the world and is also the fourth largest clean energy company in the world. It is currently expanding its operations in the continent, as well as in Africa. The company's full...
, which together with its subsidiaries generates and transmits approximately 60% of Brazil's electric supply. The largest private-owned power company is Tractebel Energia
Tractebel Energia
Tractebel Energia is a major Brazilian utility company, headquartered in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. It is the largest private electricity producer in Brazil. Its 11 plants, six of them hydroelectric and the remainder thermal, have an installed capacity of 6,977 MW in operations ave an...
. An independent system operator (Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico - ONS), responsible for the technical coordination of electricity dispatching and for the management of transmission services, and a wholesale market were created in 1998.
During the electricity crisis in 2001, the government launched a program to build 55 gas-fired power stations with a total capacity of 22 GW, but only 19 power stations were built, with a total capacity of 4,012 MW.
Hydropower
Brazil is the third largest hydroelectricity producer in the world after China and Canada. In 2007 hydropower accounted for 83% of Brazilian electricity production. The gross theoretical capability exceeds 3,000 TWh per annum, of which 800 TWh per annum is economically exploitable. In 2004, Brazil produced 321TWh of hydropower.The installed capacity is 59 GW. Brazil co-owns the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant on the Paraná River
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
located on the border between Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, which is the world's second largest operational hydroelectric power plant with installed generation capacity of 14 GW
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
by 20 generating units of 700 MW
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
each.
Due the Brazil's dependence on hydroelectric power and lack of investments in transmission, the reserves were being used for several years, which led to the dams having a low level of water. Then after another bad year of rain, in June 2001, the government was forced to ration electricity usage, this ended in late 2001. Nowadays due to the new rules of the sector, new power lines were built as were new power plants. Today the load is even bigger than it was in 2001 but the system is much safer.
Nuclear energy
Nuclear energy accounts for about 4% of Brazil's electricity. The nuclear power generation monopoly is owned by Eletronuclear (Eletrobrás Termonuclear S/A)Eletronuclear
Eletronuclear is a nuclear power company, which was established in 1997 in Brazil. It operates Angra Nuclear Power Plant. Eletronuclear is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eletrobrás....
, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eletrobrás
Eletrobrás
Eletrobras is a major Brazilian power utility. It's also Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth largest in the world and is also the fourth largest clean energy company in the world. It is currently expanding its operations in the continent, as well as in Africa. The company's full...
. Nuclear energy is produced by two reactors at Angra
Angra Nuclear Power Plant
Angra Nuclear Power Plant is Brazil's sole nuclear power plant. It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto on the Itaorna Beach in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...
. It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA) on the Praia de Itaorna in Angra dos Reis
Angra dos Reis
Angra dos Reis is a Brazilian municipality located in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro state. It is located at an altitude of 6 meters and includes in its territory 365 offshore islands. It was discovered on January 6, 1502, but has been under continual settlement since 1556. Its population...
, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro (state)
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...
. It consists of two pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s, Angra I, with capacity of 657 MW, connected to the power grid in 1982, and Angra II, with capacity of 1,350 MW, connected in 2000. A third reactor, Angra III, with a projected output of 1,350 MW, is planned to be finished by 2014 and work has been paralyzed due to environmental concerns, but the licenses are being approved and the heavy construction work will start on 2009. By 2025 Brazil plans to build seven more reactors.
In February 2008 President Lula da Silva signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Argentina.
Solar power
The total installed photovoltaic power capacity in Brazil is estimated to be between 12 and 15 MWp, of which 50% is for telecommunications systems and 50% for rural energy systems.Wind energy
Brazil's gross wind resource potential is estimated to be about 140 GW, of which 30 GW could be effectively transformed into wind power projects. Currently it generates about 54 GWh per annum. According to a Nov-07 award for Brazil's Proinfa program, current capacity is 237 MW, of which 208 was added in 2006; agreements for 1,423 MW are to be in operation by the end of 2008.Biofuels
Due to its ethanol fuel
Ethanol fuel
Ethanol fuel is ethanol , the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. World ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres...
production, Brazil has sometimes been described as a bio-energy superpower. Ethanol fuel is produced from sugar cane. Brazil has the largest sugar cane crop in the world, and is the largest exporter of ethanol in the world. With the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
, the Brazilian government initiated in 1975 the Pró-Álcool program. The Pró-Álcool or Programa Nacional do Álcool (National Alcohol Program) was a nation-wide program financed by the government to phase out all automobile fuels derived from fossil fuels in favour of ethanol. The program successfully reduced by 10 million the number of cars running on gasoline in Brazil, thereby reducing the country's dependence on oil imports.
The production and consumption of biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
is expected to reach to 2% of diesel fuel in 2008 and 5% in 2013.
Brazil's peat reserves are estimated at 25 billion tonnes, which is the most in South America. However, no production of peat for fuel has yet been developed. Brazil produces 65 million tonnes of fuelwood per year. The annual production of charcoal is about 6 million tonnes, which is used in the steel industry. The cogeneration potential of agricultural and livestock residues varies from 4 GW to 47 GW by 2025.
Further reading
- Silvestre, B. S., Dalcol, P. R. T. (2009) Geographical proximity and innovation: Evidences from the Campos Basin oil & gas industrial agglomeration — Brazil. Technovation, Vol. 29 (8), pp. 546-561.