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The Scarcity of Natural Gas Led the Government to Use Diesel Oil, a More Expensive and Polluting Fuel, at Some Thermoelectric Plants in the Country. The William Arjona Plant, One of the Most Expensive, May Be Targeted by the Scarcity
The scarcity of natural gas to supply thermoelectric plants led the government to request authorization to use diesel oil, a more polluting and more expensive fuel, at some Brazilian units. The change will create an even higher value on the electricity bill for final consumers.
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Aneel Authorizes the Switch to Diesel Oil
On Tuesday (17), the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) authorized the switch to diesel oil for Termoceará, from Petrobras, which had been halted due to the lack of natural gas. With the switch, the cost for the plant to generate energy will be R$ 1,551 per MWh, more than triple the previous cost, which was less than R$ 440.
The change in fuel was requested by the Extraordinary Rules Chamber for Hydroenergy Management (Creg) after a meeting last week that developed a series of solutions to combat the lack of natural gas for thermoelectric plants.
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Regarding Ceará, the problem is the lack of the Petrobras ship that was used to regasify gas in liquid form, which affects one of the largest thermoelectric plants in the state, Termofortaleza. The third largest, Vale do Açu, is receiving natural gas from other sources.
In the authorization for the use of diesel oil on Tuesday, Aneel also determined that Petrobras must send a ship, currently in Rio de Janeiro, to Ceará.
Understand Why There Is a Lack of Natural Gas in Brazilian Plants
In addition to Ceará, the problem is spreading to other states as a result of the maintenance shutdown of the Mexilhão hub, one of the main suppliers of natural gas in the country.
The system will be down for a month starting on the 29th. Creg also requested that Aneel recognize the availability of natural gas to the plants as a priority and that it mandates suppliers to find ways to ensure supply, including the switch to diesel oil, be possible.
Thus, Aneel is also evaluating Delta Energia’s request to allow the use of diesel oil at the William Arjona plant in Mato Grosso do Sul, which is one of the most expensive in the country. The project was reopened last month as a support against the water crisis, but it may run out of natural gas with the shutdown of the hub.
Three More Plants May Run Out of Natural Gas
According to Delta, operations with diesel oil will not make the cost of energy higher and that the use of diesel would even be cheaper. The Arjona thermoelectric plant was inaugurated with a generation cost of R$ 1,741 per MWh, but today this value reaches R$ 2,075 per MWh.
In addition to this plant, Creg mentioned three other plants that may run out of gas. The ones in Araucária, Paraná, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, and Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro. Currently, they reach a cost of R$ 1,083, R$ 701, and R$ 259 per MWh, respectively.
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