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Paraná Already Has Some Hydroelectric Power Plants, and With These, the State Will Have 39 PCHs, According to Aneel
The Paraná is expected to receive more than half of the number of Small Hydroelectric Power Plants (PCHs) existing in its territory in just 5 years, totaling 21 new energy projects to the existing group of 39 by the year 2027. The data is from the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), which also shows that nine projects, encompassing 19 works, are currently considered underway. Another 12, involving 29 works, have not yet been started.
Small Hydroelectric Power Plants are like power plants with generation capacity between 5 megawatts (MW) and 30 MW, a power greater than that produced by Hydroelectric Generation Plants (CGHs), which develop up to 5 MW of energy. Together, the powers developed by these two types of Hydroelectric Plants in Paraná generate only 3% of the total amount in the state.
But together, PCHs and CGHs represent 98% of all the power developed among the least expensive ways to obtain energy in Paraná (532 MW), a region that also has wind and photovoltaic plants. Most of the production is still carried out by large hydroelectric and thermoelectric plants, nearly 17 thousand MW.
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Construction of Small Hydroelectric Power Plants in Paraná
Among the hydroelectric plants being developed in Paraná, São Luís, owned by Tito Producing of Electric Energy, has three works of 10 MW each, reaching 30 MW of capacity, with an expected start of operations in May 2025, in the municipalities of Clevelândia and Honório Serpa.
In second place are the two hydroelectric plants of Confluência Energia S/A, in the region of Prudentópolis and Turvo. Together, they will generate more than 27 MW, with operations starting in July 2023. The nine hydroelectric constructions that are still underway, involving 19 associated works, are expected to add 117 MW of energy to the system.
From July last year until now, seven new hydroelectric plants have joined the system, four of which have been released to operate this year. They are: Foz do Estrela, Dois Saltos, Taguá, and Invernadinha.
In Paraná, there are currently 39 PCHs and 72 CGHs operating, totaling 547 MW granted, a term that corresponds to the potential for energy generation permitted by the environmental agency to the project at the time of licensing.
Potential for Generation of Hydroelectric Plants
According to the latest data from the Brazilian Association of Small Hydroelectric Plants and CGHs (ABRAPCH), based on information from Aneel, Paraná has the potential for the construction of 162 PCHs and CGHs, with approximately 1.7 thousand MW of unexplored energy still in the state, which could mean R$ 12 billion in investments and 100 thousand direct jobs created.
According to the association, Paraná has been one of the states making the most progress in the environmental licensing of small energy plants, with 191 documents issued by the Water and Land Institute, linked to the State Secretariat for Sustainable Development and Tourism, including Preliminary, Installation, and Operation Licenses, for more than 60 projects.
Despite this agility in energy generation, the president of ABRAPCH, Alessandra Torres, states that environmental licensing remains a major hurdle for the development of the electric sector.
“Along with the culture of demonization of hydroelectric plants and their reservoirs,” declares the president, who cites as an essential differential, compared to other renewable energy sources, that hydropower is a firm energy source that can and should complement energy developed from wind and solar sources, which suffer from intermittency.
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