Brazil Needs to Invest US$ 88 Billion in Energy Sector to Keep Growing

Hydroelectric plant in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil The Brazilian Ten-Year Plan (2007/2017) announced this week by the EPE (Energy Research Company), a branch of the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy, foresees the need to build seven new hydroelectric plants in Brazil, assuming a 4.9% yearly growth for the Brazilian economy from now until 20016.

The plan anticipates that hydric energy will be reduced from 84% to 76% in the Brazilian energy matrix. To make up for it the participation of energy originating from thermoelectric sources will raise, during the period, from 16% to 24%.

The viability studies conducted by the EPE have mapped the location of the seven new plants. Five should be built in the Teles Pires river, in Mato Grosso state while the other are planned for the Apiacás river, also in Mato Grosso, and the Tocantins river, in the border between the states of Pará and Maranhão.

The Ten-Year Plan forecasts that Brazil will need to invest, during the period, 167.5 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 87.7 billion) in power generation and transmission, in order to live up to the economic growth.

Out of that total amount, power generation projects should absorb 133.6 billion reais (US$ 69.9 billion), and power transmission projects – including the construction of power lines and sub-stations – 33.9 billion reais (US$ 17.7 billion).

If projects aimed at the oil, natural gas, and biofuels segments are taken into account, the Plan estimates that total investment in the power sector should reach 573.2 billion reais (US$ 300 billion). The survey outlines two possible scenarios regarding the demand for electric power, considering the possibilities of annual economic growth rates at 4.2% and 4.9%.

The forecasts announced by the president at the EPE, Maurí­cio Tolmasquim, indicate that during the next ten years the Brazilian population should increase by 32 million people, reaching 212 million.

During the period, he explained, using more advanced conservation techniques, Brazil should save approximately 15,600 megawatts (MW) of power – the equivalent of the entire forecasted power generation at the Santo Antônio plant, one of the two hydroelectric units to be built on the Madeira River, in the northern Brazilian state of Rondônia.

With regard to power consumption until 2017, the forecasted growth is 5.5%. The country's installed power capacity should leap from the current 92,400 MW of power, to 143,080 MW. These forecasts consider an economic growth scenario of 4.9%.

ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

February 1994

CONTENTS: Cover: The Generals are watching (p. 7) Betinho talks (p. 13) Saving the ...

Can Brazil’s Gun Buy-Back Plan End Violence?

Marcelo Itagiba’s office is immaculate. His desk is a fine piece of furniture, built ...

Thanks to Mining Industry Leads Brazilian Growth

Industry was the Brazilian sector that grew the most between January and June of ...

Brazilian Surplus in 2006 Already Close to US$ 6 Billion

The US$ 1.217 billion trade surplus in the fourth week of February was more ...

Brazil Fears no Blackouts or Brownouts At Least Up to 2010

Brazil does not face the risk of running short of electric power, either for ...

Ciao, Bradesco. Brazil’s Largest Private Bank Is Now Called Itaíº

With assets reaching US$ 93.283 billion (201.261 billion reais) Itaú has become Brazil’s number ...

Brazil and Neighbors Request US$ 100 Million Loan for Foot and Mouth Disease

Southern Cone countries have requested US$ 100 million from the Interamerican Development Bank, IDB, ...

Frustrated with Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay Ponder Leaving Mercosur

The months’ long dispute between Argentina and Uruguay over the construction of two pulp ...

Brazil President Hints He Might Choose a Woman to Succeed Him

The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said he would be choosing ...

Brazil’s Hunger Minister Says Country Is Winning Fight Against Absolute Poverty

According to Brazil’s Minister of Social Development and Hunger Combat (MDS), Patrus Ananias, the ...