The electrical system is expected to receive 10 MWt in 2013.
Expectations include hydroelectric, wind, and thermal power plants that have already been auctioned. "It's going to be a very good year," assures Maurício Tolmasquim, president of the Energy Research Company (EPE), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Alana Gandra
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Rio de Janeiro - The outlook for the Brazilian electricity sector in 2013 is very good, according to Maurício Tolmasquim, president of the Energy Research Company (EPE), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, who assured Agência Brasil.
According to the official, approximately 10 megawatts (MW) should enter the national electrical system during this period, encompassing hydroelectric, wind, and thermal power plants that have already been auctioned. "It's going to be a very good year."
In early 2013, EPE plans to hold two auctions for new energy, aiming to guarantee the supply of energy to meet demand for the next three to five years. These auctions are designated A-3 and A-5, respectively. The company is also considering potentially holding a reserve auction.
Tolmasquim believes that the Sinop (MT) and São Manoel hydroelectric plants, located between Mato Grosso and Pará, will be auctioned off during the next year. He estimates that the São Luiz do Tapajós (PA) plant could be auctioned off at the beginning of 2014.
Given that expansion and tariff moderation are already "properly balanced," economists from the Electricity Sector Studies Group at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Gesel/UFRJ) believe that the biggest challenges for 2013 "lie within the realm of the electricity system and its planning."
The coordinator of Gesel, Professor Nivalde de Castro, told Agência Brasil that the assessment is based on two facts. "The first is that the construction of new hydroelectric plants is having to minimize the volume of reservoirs [called run-of-river plants], thus requiring the construction of thermal power plants, a requirement that will become even more pronounced with the increased contracting of wind farms [which generate energy from the wind]."
The second challenge, Castro pointed out, is the revision of transmission line planning procedures, "because there is a growing mismatch between the construction of generating plants and transmission lines." According to him, transmission line planning "is very passive and is being determined after the generation auctions have taken place."