Eletrobras is the favorite electricity sector stock for August (Image: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
A Eletrobras (ELET3) stated this Thursday (3) that it brought forward the operation of a reactor bank at a substation in Rondônia as part of actions to minimize the risk of stoppage of the Jirau and Santo Antônio hydroelectric plants, located on the Madeira River, due to the drought.
The company anticipated the energization of one of the two new reactor banks which are being installed at the Coletora Porto-Velho substation. This equipment acts, for example, in voltage control, helping to maintain the stability of the electrical network operation and avoid failures in the energy supply.
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“The decision to bring forward the operation was taken by the company together with Aneel and the ONS. Next November, the second reactor will be energized, completing the strategic actions that reduce the risk of plant shutdowns,” Eletrobras said in a note.
A severe drought this year has been affecting the generation of hydroelectric plants in the North in recent months, in a situation that worries the government mainly due to the relevance of these plants for supplying power to the electrical system in the late afternoon, when the energy load is high and the Solar plants are stopping generating.
Operating at run-of-river (without an accumulation reservoir), Jirau and Santo Antônio, on the Madeira River, are among the main power plants in the country, totaling around 7,000 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity. Eletrobras is the controlling shareholder of Santo Antônio and also has a stake in Jirau.
With Madeira reaching historic minimum levels last month, the projects had their operations reduced. The same occurs with Belo Monte, on the Xingu River, which had its minimum flow reduced to 100 m³/s by the government, with the aim of allowing the plant to continue operating to meet peak times.
Eletrobras also mentioned that, in June, the operator of the Jirau plant had already transferred a bar reactor to the substation, also as part of actions to minimize the possibility of shutdown of plants.
“The installation of this type of reactor is a technical solution that allows a faster and more efficient response to load variations that may occur during the joint operation of the plants. This is possible because it works with a stand by, providing the system with the necessary security to operate and withstand the challenges imposed by the drought without interruption of supply”, he explained.
Another initiative mentioned by the company to reduce the risk of project shutdowns was carrying out studies for the operation of Jirau with “Back-to-Back” in “stand alone” condition, without the Santo Antônio hydroelectric plant, in addition to the necessary control changes to make this operation possible.