The Federal Government has defined the rules for the start of the voluntary program to ration electricity consumption until April 30, 2022. Called RVD (Voluntary Reduction of Electricity Demand), the initiative was taken to reduce energy demand and avoid the risk of blackouts in the country.
The measures are only valid for industries that are in the free market, that is, those that buy energy directly from the generator or trader, without going through the distributor. The decision takes into account a suggestion made by the industries and provides rules for the mechanism for offering voluntary demand reduction to the entities.
The idea is to pay, through a system similar to auctions, for the energy that companies manage to save, shifting this consumption to a time that puts less pressure on the SIN (National Interconnected System). Initially, the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) had suggested offering energy reductions to industries with at least 30 MW on average. However, the amount, being too high, would make it impossible for part of the sector to participate.
Furthermore, the proposed rules did not allow consumers to act as aggregating agents, which are those that group the loads of consumer units so that, together, they meet the minimum demand reduction supply limit. Because of this, at the beginning of last week, Firjan (Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro) made some suggestions to the Ministry to change some items of the initial measure.
The changes published, through the 22 / 2021 Ordinance, predict that the minimum value to be offered for reduction will be 5 MW, increasing the participation of industries; and that consumers can also organize themselves and act as aggregators, reducing transaction costs.
It was also agreed that ONS (National Electric System Operator) and CCEE (Electric Energy Trading Chamber) will publish guidelines and documents in the coming days so that companies can participate in the voluntary demand reduction offer.
Water crisis
Brazil is currently going through the biggest water crisis of the last 91 years, due to the historic drought that affects the main reservoirs in the Southeast and Central-West regions, and which, together, correspond to more than 70% of national hydropower generation.
Without water in the reservoirs, the Federal Government had to take measures to avoid the need for rationing, such as purchasing energy from neighboring countries and activating thermal plants, which in addition to being polluting, also increased the value of Brazilian families' electricity bills.
In a statement, the Federal Government informed that it has been using all available resources and taking exceptional measures to increase energy supply. “In addition to these measures, with the publication of the guidelines, the possibility of large consumers contributing through demand management is added”, he highlights.
The Union also stressed that the objective of voluntary rationing is to enable alternatives that contribute to increased safety and continuity of electrical energy service to consumers. “In this way, the proposal presents a conjunctural approach to confront the current scenario, in continuity with the ongoing alternatives, which have been monitored by the CMSE, under the coordination of the MME, and with relevant participation of the institutions that make up the collegiate”.
