Impact of the Brazilian renewable energy policies on the electrical energy crisis

Summary form only given as follows. In the last five years, the Brazilian Electrical Sector has undergone deep changes. Following the privatization of utilities, new agents such as a national operator, an energy spot market and a regulatory agency came to scene and helped forming the legal framework of the new model. The introduction of competition in production and in commercialization should have brought in the necessary investments to face an important and steady increase in demand. However, due to many reasons, the construction of new generating plants was far from enough. Following a period of unfavorable hydrological conditions, the country faces now a critical situation in the electrical energy supply. To cope with the crisis, the Federal Government issued an emergency plan imposing either the reduction and a more rational and efficient use of electrical energy. In parallel, many actions have been taken to increase the generating capacity in the short term, either through thermal units as well as through renewables (e.g. wind, solar, biomass). The Government launched the first of several programs aiming to increase participation of renewables in energy production. The paper presents an analysis of impact of such programs and the government incentives to them on the Brazilian electrical sector, pointing out possible scenarios on the energy production matrix as well as on the price of energy to customers.