Over the past five years, Brazilian consumers have faced a persistent pattern of power outages. According to data from ANEEL According to the National Electric Energy Agency, between 2020 and 2024, customers in the captive market were without electricity for an average of 10 to 12 hours per year.
Furthermore, the period was marked by emblematic episodes of prolonged outages that exposed the weaknesses of the national electricity infrastructure. In 2023, a severe storm left more than two million people without power for several days in São Paulo.
In the same year, Rio Grande do Sul suffered long periods of shortages after historic cyclones, while Amapá again recorded recurring instabilities after the 2020 blackout, when part of the state faced 21 days of compromised supply.
Although each year presents its own particularities, the numbers show that power outages remain a consistent challenge. To understand the evolution of the duration, frequency, and compensation paid by distributors, Canal Solar analyzed the data from ANEEL relating to the last five years.
2020: The beginning of the decade marked by the historic blackout in Amapá.
In 2020, the year of the blackout that left nearly 800 people in Amapá without power for 21 days, the average Brazilian consumer was without electricity for 11 hours and 30 minutes.
The average frequency of outages exceeded six per consumer, and distributors paid R$ 630,9 million in compensation for failures exceeding regulatory limits.
2021: Power outages increase and compensation claims rise.
In 2021, a major blackout in May, caused by a failure in a transmission line connected to the Belo Monte complex, affected several states, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Ceará, and Amazonas.
In total, consumers were without power for almost 12 hours on average, with 5,98 interruptions throughout the year. Automatic compensations increased, reaching R$ 718,5 million.
2022: Slight improvement in the indices, but compensations remain high.
The year 2022 did not register a blackout of major national repercussion, but the country recorded more than 40 blackouts lasting at least ten minutes.
Brazilians experienced an average of almost 11 hours without power, and the frequency of outages dropped to 5,47. Despite the improvement, utility companies paid out R$ 783 million in compensation—the highest amount to date.
2023: More severe blackouts and record compensation payments.
Even with extreme events – such as the collapse of the power grid after storms in São Paulo and the impacts of cyclones in Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil recorded a reduction in average indicators.
The average time without power dropped to approximately 10 hours and 30 minutes, and the frequency to five interruptions per consumer. On the other hand, compensation payments skyrocketed, reaching R$ 1,08 billion, marking a new record.
Consumers overcome blackouts in São Paulo with solar energy and batteries
2024: Frequency drops and downtime stabilizes.
In 2024, the data from ANEEL Data shows that consumers were without power for an average of 10 hours and 14 minutes, a 1,7% reduction compared to 2023. The frequency of outages fell from 5,15 to 4,89, and compensation reached R$ 1,12 billion, the highest amount ever recorded.
International comparison: Brazil is still far behind.
In the last five years alone, Brazilian distributors have already paid out more than R$ 4,3 billion in compensation for power supply failures. Despite the... ANEEL Although the indicators show a gradual improvement, the country is still far from international quality standards.
For comparison, consumers in Germany experience an average power outage of less than 15 minutes per year. In France, the average annual outage time is approximately one hour, while in the United Kingdom it is around 30 minutes.
In the United States, consumers experience an average of about 2 hours of power outages per year when extreme weather events such as tornadoes and hurricanes are excluded. Including these events, the duration increases to 5 hours and 30 minutes annually.
The data comes from official agencies and bodies in each country, such as BNetzA (Germany), CRE (France), Ofgem (United Kingdom), and EIA (United States).
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