In a quick vote, which lasted less than eight minutes, the Senate's Infrastructure Committee (CI) approved a bill that was off the agenda with “tortoises” (matters unrelated to the topic) that will create new billion-dollar costs for energy consumers. Originally, Bill No. 5,017/2019 dealt with discounts on electricity rates for irrigation and aquaculture, as well as for semi-artesian water wells for human supply. But it included the compulsory contracting of fossil gas thermoelectric plants – and also in the Amazon. Something that, in addition to the electricity bill, will increase greenhouse gas emissions, worsening climate change.
“Jabuti” created in the Senate benefits fossil fuels and increases electricity bills
In a quick vote, which lasted less than eight minutes, the Senate's Infrastructure Committee (CI) approved a bill that was off the agenda with “tortoises” (matters unrelated to the topic) that will create new...
The project was reported by senator Hermes Klann (PL-SC), chosen for the task hours before the lightning vote, according to CNN Brasil. One of the “jabutis” included by the parliamentarian revived the idea of ??locational thermal plants, that is, installed in locations determined by the government, on two different fronts. One of them determines that the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) promotes auctions to contract plants in the North Region that use fossil gas of Amazonian origin. The other resumes the commitment included in the Eletrobras privatization law to contract 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of new fossil fuel-based thermoelectric plants, details below.
The contracting of these 2.5 GW of fossil gas has a date and address, according to the text. The auctions should take place by the 1st quarter of 2027, with the plants delivered by July 1, 2032. In addition, the plants must be geographically distributed in five blocks, each of 500 megawatts (MW): Goiás; Integrated Development Region of the Federal District and Surrounding Area (RIDE-DF); North Region, ensuring service to Rondônia; Triângulo Mineiro; and Metropolitan Region of São Luís, in Maranhão.
The text also determines that thermoelectric plants will have at least 70% inflexibility. And he adds that the contract must include the “cost of the fuel purchased for the required flexibility”. In summary: in addition to purchasing unnecessarily more expensive electricity, the consumer will have to pay for the fossil gas contracted for times when these plants are not in operation.
With the contracting of locational thermal plants, Senator Hermes Klann's replacement is also trying to enable the implementation of gas pipelines in the country, recall Platô and Estado de Minas. A measure that fits like a glove in the interests of Bahian businessman Carlos Suarez, known as the “gas king”. Suarez holds stakes in gas pipeline projects that never got off the ground. One of them is Transportadora do Gasoduto Brasil Central (TGBC), which intends to connect São Carlos (SP) to the Federal District, passing through the Triângulo Mineiro – coincidentally, one of the regions listed in Klann's text for the implementation of fossil gas plants.
Folha PE and Folha BV also reported on the fossil “jabuti” created in the Senate.
Source: ClimaInfo
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