The longest summer in Rio is coming.
Daylight saving time begins on Saturday and lasts until February 26th; there will be 133 days in which the sun will set one hour later; the country will save R$ 100 million, according to the System Operator.
Rio247_Those who enjoy daylight saving time, sun and beach, will delight in the summer time period, which begins at midnight this Saturday, the 16th, and lasts until February 26th of next year, a time when thermometers in the city of Rio de Janeiro easily reach 40 degrees Celsius. It will be the longest in the series since 1985, when clocks in some regions of the country began to be set back one hour as a way to generate savings for the country. The 2011/2012 summer time period will last 133 days, four days after the end of Carnival, and will occur in three Brazilian regions: Southeast, Central-West and South.
The estimate, released today (13), by the National Electric System Operator (ONS), is that the new time should generate savings for the country between R$ 75 million and R$ 100 million. Last year, according to the ONS, savings with daylight saving time across the country reached R$ 30 million, with a 4,4% reduction in energy demand. The estimate from the Rio Shopkeepers Union, Sindlojas, is a 7% increase in retail sales compared to the monthly average during normal hours.
Considering all states affected by the measure, the estimated decrease in demand will be 4,6%, or the equivalent of 2.650 megawatts (MW).
The largest reduction (4,9%) is expected to occur in the Southern Region, corresponding to 600 MW. According to the ONS (National System Operator), this represents 75% of the demand in Curitiba (PR) or three times that of Florianópolis (SC). In the Southeast and Central-West regions combined, the projected decrease in consumption is 4,6%, corresponding to 2.050 MW, or twice the demand of Belo Horizonte and two and a half times that of Brasília.