O electric power consumption in Brazil in August presented a 0,6% advance compared to the same period last year and reached 63.727 MWmed. This is what the CCEE (Electric Energy Trading Chamber).
Although large consumers registered an increase, intense rains and milder temperatures led to a drop in demand in homes and small commercial establishments.
O Mercado Livre was responsible for 23.700 MWmed consumed, an amount 5,9% higher than in August 2021. 40.027 MWmed were allocated to the regulated environment, a decrease of 2,4% in the annual comparison.
Due to the constant movement of consumers between these two segments, CCEE also calculated the data disregarding the effect of migrations.
According to the entity, if we exclude from the account cargo that left or entered both markets in the last 12 months, the free environment would have an increase of 3,3%, while the regulated environment would show a slightly smaller decline, of 0,7%. .
“Photovoltaic solar panels installed in homes and businesses also reduce demand on the grid. If there were no this type of system, there would be a positive fluctuation of 0,1% in the volume demanded by the regulated segment”, they reported.
Regional consumption
O Maranhão ended August with the biggest increase in energy consumption among Brazilian states, 16% compared to the same period last year. Pará and Tocantins come next, each with a 7% increase, followed by Paraná, with an increase of 6%.
According to CCEE, the result is explained by greater demand from consumers in the metallurgical industry (Maranhão), extraction of metallic minerals (Pará), Wood, Paper and Cellulose (Paraná) and consumption in ACR (Tocantins).
Among the regions that declined the most are Rio Grande do Norte (-7%), followed by Piauí (-5%), and Acre and Mato Grosso do Sul.
In these regions, mainly in the Northeast, the Chamber associates the decline with greater volumes of rain and milder temperatures, which reduce the need for refrigeration equipment, such as air conditioning units.
Power generation
Since January, the company has been registering significant increases in participation of hydroelectric plants in electricity generation, a result of the more favorable hydrological scenario in 2022, which leaves the country in a stable position to go through the dry period.
In August, hydroelectric plants supplied 43.585 MWmed to the SIN (National Interconnected System), a volume 34,4% higher than in 2021. Consequently, thermoelectric plants fell 56,2%.
Furthermore, August also ended with growth of 82% in solar photovoltaic generation and 14,9% in wind production.
Export
Still in August, the Brazil exported 837 MWmed of electricity to Argentina. According to the sector's accounting, the sale of surpluses to neighboring countries is recorded as “consumption” in the Services segment.
Taking this effect into account, the entity said that the total volume consumed would have grown by 2% compared to the same month last year.
