2026 elections: ONS plans special operation to monitor the performance of the electrical system

Power transmission towers REUTERS/Manon Cruz The general director of the National Electric System Operator (ONS), Márcio Rea, stated that, at this moment, he sees no risk of a lack of electricity during the elections. According to him, the body will carry out, as happens in major events, a special operation to monitor the system. "There's always a special operation, but we've been working for months, we've been developing (this work). So, I don't see any problem, unless it's a catastrophe," Rea told reporters in Brasília. In parallel, the general director of the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), Sandoval Feitosa, stated that he communicated to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) the anticipation of resources allocated to plants belonging to independent producers that serve isolated areas of the Amazon. The measure seeks to reduce the risk of fuel shortages for these plants in the event of navigation difficulties on the rivers, caused by low rainfall. “We are going to advance resources so that these companies can buy the fuel, leave it stored, so that, eventually, if there is a problem with traffic on the rivers, there will be enough fuel to serve the communities and, mainly, during the elections”, stated Feitosa. The resources come from the Fuel Consumption Account (CCC). According to Feitosa, preparation for the elections is being carried out preventively. The objective is to reinforce the security of the system and guarantee sufficient teams for possible occurrences. "What we are doing, specifically in this case, is working preventively. When it gets close to the elections, the ONS will certainly take precautions to make the system as robust as possible. They already do this every year, but we will reinforce to the distributors the need to reinforce the teams", he stated. El Niño When commenting on the prospects for 2027, Rea assessed that the scenario could be “complicated”, mainly due to the difficulty of predicting the intensity and effects of El Niño. “We understand that it will be complicated, especially in 2027,” he stated. ? El Niño is a climate phenomenon caused by the abnormal warming of surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean. It generally occurs every two to seven years and can change rainfall and temperature patterns in various parts of the world. In Brazil, the phenomenon can intensify the heat, increase the risk of drought in the North and Northeast and cause above-average rainfall in the South. Rea highlighted, however, that the electrical system has preventive and alternative measures to reduce the impacts of extreme weather events. According to him, previous incidents caused significant damage to infrastructure, but did not interrupt the energy supply. El Niño leaves the Amazon summer with dry weather and high temperatures, in Manaus "We have prevention work. There is no way of knowing what will come, where the wind will come from, but, in the events that preceded it, we managed not to have power interruptions. Even though more than 20 towers were affected, we managed to maintain the power supply", he said. He added that the system has alternatives to preserve the functioning of the network even when part of the infrastructure is affected. “We have alternatives in our networks to keep the system always working,” he said.