Brasilia, Jun 28 (EFE) .- The Minister of Mines and Energy of Brazil, Bento Albuquerque, denied this Monday that the country could be on the verge of an electricity rationing, but urged the economic sectors and citizens to avoid waste.
“Brazil is facing one of the worst droughts in its history,” Albuquerque said on a radio and television station in which he admitted that “the water shortage has caused many concerns, with the possibility of rationing” the service, as happened. in 2001.
However, he assured that the network of the national electricity system “evolved a lot” since then and that the strong dependence it had on hydroelectric generators has been reduced, with the inclusion of new sources, such as wind, solar and nuclear, among other
Faced with what he considered the “worst drought in the last 91 years”, which is mainly concentrated in the central-western and southern regions of the country, the minister indicated that his office works with “organized civil society and regional governments.” . Also, that it is in “permanent dialogue” with the economic sectors.
In this framework, he explained that, “in partnership with the industry,” an action program will be drawn up to increase the workload at times of less energy demand and reduce it at times when consumption increases, in order to contribute to greater savings.
He also said that “it is essential that the service sectors” and other areas of the economy join in “this effort” and asked citizens to make “a conscious use of water and energy”, in order to “avoid waste “and help reduce” pressure on the electrical system. “
According to some specialists, the current drought, which will tend to worsen in the coming months, is due to various factors.
Among them, they cite the natural phenomenon of La Niña, which causes less rainfall in southern Brazil. In addition, Amazon deforestation, on the rise since January 2019 when the far-right Jair Bolsonaro assumed power, who promotes aggressive development policies in the largest plant lung on the planet.
(c) EFE Agency
