Hydroelectric Plants Generate And Store Energy More Efficiently, Cleanly, Cheaply, And Safely, Being The Most Renewable Among All Renewables

Written by Flavia Marinho

Published on 10/11/2021 at 13:20

Updated on 10/11/2021 at 13:21

maior usina hidrelétrica do mundo / Imagem Google

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Hydropower Plants Have a Lower Carbon Footprint Than Wind, Solar, and Gas Thermal, as Well as Offering the Lowest Global Cost in the Electric Sector.

The Law 14.182/2021, which addresses the privatization of Eletrobras, established mandatory contracting of energy from hydropower plants in auctions A-5 and A-6, requiring the contracting of 50% of the demand declared by distributors, up to 2,000 MW from 2021 to 2026, with energy delivery starting from 2026. However, the A-5 auction, held on September 30 of this year, excluded Small Hydropower Plants (PCHs) from the bidding.

Measure Acts as a Bridge Until the Main Problems Facing the Sector Are Corrected

According to Paulo Arbex, president of the Brazilian Association of PCHs and CGHs (ABRAPCH), this measure acts as a bridge until the main problems facing the sector are corrected: (i) taxation of its production chain up to 38% higher than other renewables, (ii) environmental compensation requirements costing 30% more than its competitors, (iii) exemptions and tax breaks of over R$ 98 billion/year for fossil fuels, (iv) absence of remuneration for ancillary services provided by PCHs and CGHs, (v) disproportionate sharing of network costs to usage, (vi) use of hydropower reservoirs in the MRE to solve third-party problems (often their competitors), for which they were not designed and which do not concern them.

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More Developed Countries Like Germany and Norway Prioritized Hydropower Plants Before Resorting to More Expensive Alternatives

That is why more developed countries prioritized hydropower before resorting to more expensive, less efficient, or more polluting alternatives.

“In Germany, a country with an area equivalent to half of the state of Minas Gerais and where the Green Party holds more power, hydropower plants are regarded as a national strategic priority. While Germany, with 7,200 hydropower plants, continues to seek to enable others with the support of the Green Party, Brazil, with only 1,500, debates whether it doesn’t already have too many hydropower plants. It’s almost surreal,” Arbex comments.

“Norway, the third-largest gas exporter in the world and the twelfth in oil, generates 94% of its electricity through hydropower and has never faced any supply or electricity rationing issues. The difference? Norway made the decision to supply its internal market with the clean, cheap, safe, and reliable energy from hydropower, and, unlike Brazil, encouraged the source instead of penalizing it. It exports its oil and gas and supplies its population with hydroelectricity. Brazil should do the same. Export the pre-salt oil and gas instead of burning it for electricity generation and supply the internal market with a combination of renewables: hydropower, biomass, wind, and solar. Brazil needs to maximize its riches, monetizing both its hydraulic potential and its oil reserves, instead of allowing one wealth to cannibalize the other,” Arbex concludes.

Hydroelectric Plants Generate And Store Energy More Efficiently, Cleanly, Cheaply, And Safely, Being The Most Renewable Among All Renewables

Hydropower Plants Have a Lower Carbon Footprint Than Wind, Solar, and Gas Thermal, as Well as Offering the Lowest Global Cost in the Electric Sector.

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Measure Acts as a Bridge Until the Main Problems Facing the Sector Are Corrected

More Developed Countries Like Germany and Norway Prioritized Hydropower Plants Before Resorting to More Expensive Alternatives

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Hydroelectric Plants Generate And Store Energy More Efficiently, Cleanly, Cheaply, And Safely, Being The Most Renewable Among All Renewables

Hydropower Plants Have a Lower Carbon Footprint Than Wind, Solar, and Gas Thermal, as Well as Offering the Lowest Global Cost in the Electric Sector.

See Also

Measure Acts as a Bridge Until the Main Problems Facing the Sector Are Corrected

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In Botswana, a salt flat of up to 16,000 km² that was once an African megalake spends months as an absolute white desert, but during the rainy season it transforms into a shallow sea that reappears from nowhere and can be seen from space in the middle of southern Africa.

The Blood Falls of Antarctica hide a living ecosystem trapped under the ice for over 2 million years, where microbes survive without light, without oxygen, and without ever having seen the Sun.

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