ENERGY-ARGENTINA: Brazil Provides an Electrical Boost

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 30 2004 (IPS) - Brazil, with its own recent experience in electricity shortages, has come to the aid of its neighbour and trade partner Argentina in efforts to stave off a full-blown energy crisis.

Brazil began providing an emergency supply of 500 megawatts early Tuesday to Argentina, announced the Brazilian national electrical system operator, ONS.

The two countries already had been negotiating Brazilian aid for confronting Argentina’s looming energy crisis, but the electricity exports included in that plan were scheduled to begin in May.

Tuesday’s operation was a response to "a deficit in power for meeting demand" in Argentina, according to the ONS. On Monday, Argentine authorities reduced voltage across the country from 220 to 209 volts.

The measure was implemented Monday afternoon and was to remain in place until further notice, but was lifted on Tuesday after Brazil began transmitting electricity and, according to the Argentine daily La Nación, after natural gas suppliers began pumping more of the fuel to Argentina’s electrical plants.

Brazil’s emergency supply of energy to Argentina was to be interrupted between 7pm and 10pm, local time, which is when electricity consumption is highest in Brazil.

In Argentina, officials and experts agree that the energy crisis was spawned by strong economic growth, which has stepped up demand on an already overburdened national energy system.

Last year, demand for electricity in Argentina grew eight percent in the residential market and 11 percent in industry.

The energy aid "does not involve commercial factors," because it is taking place under an accord between the energy system operators of the two countries, "normal for emergency situations," said the communiqué from the ONS, whose Argentine counterpart is CAMMESA.

Brazil thus anticipated such assistance to its biggest partner in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), which is facing the possibility of blackouts and energy rationing in coming months due to natural gas shortages.

For Brazil, it is a chance to repay the solidarity it received from Argentina, said Brazilian energy and mining minister, Dilma Roussef, as she announced that her country would transmit 300 to 500 megawatts, after the necessary evaluations and the selection of the provider company were made.

In 2001, Brazil experienced a severe energy crisis and had to impose a rationing programme, while promoting energy efficiency in homes and businesses, and launching emergency plans to expand electrical production. Brazil also stepped up its energy imports from Argentina.

Brazil was also called upon to send 70 megawatts to fellow Mercosur member Uruguay, the first victim of the Argentine energy crisis, because it relies on Argentina’s natural gas to generate approximately 20 percent of the electricity it consumes – and that supply has been suspended since last week.

Chile is in similar straits, as more than 90 percent of the natural gas it consumes comes from Argentina, and 37 percent of its electrical production relies on that fuel.

The exchange of electricity between Argentina and Brazil is possible because steps had already been taken towards energy integration. A conversion system had to be set up because the two countries use different electrical frequencies: 60 hertz in Brazil, 50 hertz in Argentina.

Brazil, which currently has surplus electricity, could export more than the 500 megawatts set as the maximum, but the connection system between the two countries does not permit surpassing that level, according to the energy authorities.

Minister Roussef urged caution and underscored the need to conduct studies on the availability of exportable surpluses. It turns out that part of the electricity produced in southern Brazil is generated from Argentine natural gas, imports of which have been cut off.

She stressed that exchange between the two countries should be maintained, beyond the crisis. Electricity consumption in Brazil is highest during the southern hemisphere summer, while in Argentina it is just the opposite, highest during the winter – a situation that offers mutual advantages for energy integration.

The heating systems used in chilly Argentine winters and the air conditioning systems in the more tropical Brazil are what cause the asymmetry in their peak periods of consumption.

Furthermore, in Brazil, hydroelectric dams are the main source of electricity, while in Argentina natural gas produces 80 percent of the electricity that country consumes.

These differences mean that energy exchange "in the two directions promotes optimisation" of the national electrical systems, says Renato Quieroz, secretary-general of the non-governmental organisation Ilumina, which specialises in the strategic development of Brazil’s electrical energy sector.

But Brazil’s assistance of 300 to 500 megawatts is very little for a big country like Argentina, Quieroz told IPS. In comparison, Brazil imports 200 megawatts from Venezuela just to supply its isolated northern state of Roraima, home to 350,000 people.

The Brazilian crisis of 2001 stimulated integration on another front, with greater natural gas imports now coming from Bolivia. But several projects have been frustrated or delayed due to the decline in Brazilian consumption, arising from new energy conservation habits and economic stagnation.

The Argentine crisis is sending mixed signals, because while it underscores the advantages of integration with Brazil, it also reveals the disastrous effects of energy dependence – as Uruguay and Chile are now experiencing.