After unprecedented cuts, Silveira says ONS's emergency plan was "timely and assertive."

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, stated this Tuesday (9) that the ONS (National Electric System Operator) acted correctly in activating, for the first time, the emergency plan for managing surplus energy to avoid risks to the operation of the national electric system.

The statement was made after a meeting between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and representatives of the ethanol sector at the Planalto Palace.

According to the minister, the measure adopted by the operator last Sunday (7) was necessary to guarantee the stability of the SIN (National Interconnected System) in the face of a scenario of low energy demand during the Corpus Christi long weekend.

"This [the cut] was done in a timely and assertive manner, guaranteeing energy stability. And we did not have any setbacks in the national energy issue," Silveira told reporters.

On Sunday, the ONS activated the Emergency Plan for Managing Surplus Energy in the Distribution Network, approved by ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) in November 2025. The measure was adopted after the Operator identified a risk of excess generation in relation to energy consumption.

To balance supply and demand, the agency requested a reduction in generation from large power plants under its coordination and, for the first time, called on distributors to also make cuts in projects connected to the distribution networks.

ONS performs initial power cuts at plants connected to the distribution network.

According to Silveira, the reduction in consumption was aggravated by the drop in temperatures in several regions of the country over the weekend. “There was a sharp drop in temperature across the country, consequently a drop in load, since many air conditioners were not turned on. Naturally, the ONS (National System Operator) needed to act immediately to guarantee national energy security,” he stated.

The minister also argued that isolated incidents like the one on Sunday can occur in any electrical system in the world, but stated that Brazil has the capacity to maintain the security of its energy supply "guaranteed for the next 10 years" and that the government is working to expand the energy supply with affordable tariffs.

Brazilian National System Operator's (ONS) emergency plan exposes the backwardness of Brazil's electrical infrastructure, associations assess.

Some of the generators did not respond to the command.

Even though the operation was considered well executed by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), information released by Agência iNFRA indicates that some of the small generators activated to interrupt the production of energy injected into the distributors' networks did not respond to the concessionaires' commands.

Sources indicated to the Agency that the distributors are still investigating the actual amount of generation cut off and any incidents that may have occurred. If the lack of response to the distributors' instructions is proven, the regulator may open an investigation against the generators, sources explained.

all the content of Canal Solar is protected by copyright law, and partial or total reproduction of this site in any medium is expressly prohibited. If you are interested in collaborating or reusing part of our material, please contact us by email: redacao@canalsolar.com.br.