Brazil: Energy Crisis Deepens Amid Ongoing Drought
September 2nd, 2021

Via STRATFOR (subscription required), a quick summary of Brazil’s watergy crisis:

What Happened: Brazil’s energy crisis is worse than previously thought amid particularly low rainfall that has significantly reduced hydropower generation, according to the country’s energy minister Bento Albuquerque, Folha de Sao Paulo reported Aug. 31. Federal agencies in Brazil have been directed to cut overall energy consumption by 20%.

Why It Matters: The record drought means individual and corporate consumers of energy in Brazil are likely to pay more for electricity. In addition to the reduction of personal energy consumption, private companies will likely be encouraged to import more energy, most likely liquified natural gas from other countries in the region. With climate change expected to bring only more extreme weather in the coming years, the Brazilian government will be increasingly compelled to find alternate sources of energy, including potentially thermal power and liquified natural gas.

Background: Hydropower makes up over 60% of Brazil’s energy supply. Albuquerque said the drought had cost Brazil enough energy to power Rio de Janeiro for five months.


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About This Blog And Its Author
As the scarcity of water and energy continues to grow, the linkage between these two critical resources will become more defined and even more acute in the months ahead.  This blog is committed to analyzing and referencing articles, reports, and interviews that can help unlock the nascent, complex and expanding linkages between water and energy -- The Watergy Nexus -- and will endeavor to provide a central clearinghouse for insightful articles and comments for all to consider.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy.  Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation.  He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”