Brazil developed and consolidated during the 20th century a model of electric energy matrix based on hydroelectricity, pointed out for many decades as a efficient practice because it is able to generate a large amount of energy and is not harmful to the environment, because it uses water, a renewable resource, and, to the At the same time, it does not emit large amounts of atmospheric pollutants, unlike plants that use coal and petroleum derivatives to generate energy.
Several megaprojects were built in order to take advantage of the natural potential of Brazilian rivers, which have a large volume of water and the plateau relief present in various regions. The association of flowing rivers with the falls imposed by the plateaus offers the hydraulic power of the Brazil, recognized worldwide and referenced in plants such as Itaipu, on the Paraná river, and Tucuruí, on the river Tocantins.
The crisis in the energy sector evidenced during the early 2000s had enormous repercussions in the media, which called the energy rationing program instituted in the year of 2001. After the crisis, much of what was propagated about hydroelectric plants came to be questioned. Until then, there was the feeling that the country was supported by a clean, renewable energy matrix and that under no circumstances could it be shaken by any difficulty in producing and transmitting electricity to supply industries and the consumer market in general.
In the 2000s, new institutional programs for the energy sector were proposed. In 2003, the Luz para Todos project was launched, created to serve localities that are not served by electricity transmission. Initially scheduled to close in 2010, it was extended until 2014. In 2007, the federal government created the PAC (Program for the Acceleration of Economic Growth) to guide and finance infrastructure projects, such as energy generation. In 2010, the creation of PAC 2 provided support for several projects, such as Luz para Todos and the construction of the Rio Madeira (Jirau and Santo Antônio) and Belo Monte power plants.
Even with recent policies, Brazil is still subject to failures in the power transmission system, and several blackouts have occurred in recent years, whose justifications varied between technical problems, human failures and the action of forces of nature, such as lightning storms, which supposedly were the reason for a major blackout in the Southeast region in October 2009.
More recently, in 2012, there were numerous blackouts. There were hundreds of interruptions considered small, between 15 MW and 100 MW, capable of leaving some neighborhoods or cities of up to 400 thousand inhabitants, and at least 4 intense interruptions, with more than 100 thousand MW, capable of leaving tens of millions of people without energy electrical power, affecting all Brazilian regions, always with specific justifications, such as fires in transmission lines or short circuits sporadic. Such occurrences demonstrate that, even after the clarification of the authorities and managing bodies after the Blackout in 2001, the sector needs more investments, as there is a clear dependence on few generating centers and failures in the maintenance and distribution of power lines. streaming.
Julio César Lázaro da Silva
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Geography from Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP
Master in Human Geography from Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/planejamento-energetico-brasil-iminencia-uma-nova-crise-no-setor-apagao.htm
