EN 
PT_BR 
In March this year, Brazil recorded a volume of 72,834 MW of energy accumulated in the SIN (National Interconnected System) load. This is an increase of 6% compared to the same period in 2020, according to data recently released by the monthly bulletin from the ONS (National Electric System Operator).
According to the information, energy consumption is already beginning to reflect a slowdown in the pace of recovery that had been observed in the industrial sector.
The restriction measures, taken at the beginning of last year, to contain the spread of the pandemic, with a negative impact on cargo behavior, contributed to the increase in the rate.
Furthermore, last month there were large temperature spikes, higher than those recorded in March 2020, in almost all of Brazil, which caused the population to activate the air conditioning systems, at levels considered above ideal for this season. year.
Read more: ABSOLAR CEO highlights advantages of photovoltaic energy during summer
The survey points out, however, that, in relation to February, there was a minimum negative variation of 0.3% in March in energy consumption by Brazilians. In the last 12 months, the variation is also negative at 0.1%, compared to 2020.
Demand by region
The ONS March monthly report also presents consolidated data from the four regions analyzed by the bulletin. All of them showed percentage growth in energy consumption by the population compared to the same period of the previous year.
The North region, for example, was the one with the highest demand, with 5,831 average MW, an increase of around 7.1% compared to March 2020. Soon after, the subsystem of the Southeast/Mid-West regions appears, with 42,512 average MW, an increase of 6.7%. In the South region, the increase was 4.7% and in the Northeast it was 4.5%, with 13,081 MW and 11,410 average MW, respectively.
