Brazil government advances start of five fossil‑fuel power plants to September

The Committee of Monitoring of the Electric Sector (CMSE), led by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, approved the anticipation of five thermal power plants to begin operating on 1 September. The plants – three owned by Petrobras (Termomacaé in Rio de Janeiro, Termoceará Diesel in Ceará and Três Lagoas in Mato Grosso do Sul) and two owned by Ámbar Energia (Araucária in Paraná) and Global (Manaus I in Amazonas) – provide a combined capacity of 1.827 GW. The move is justified by the expected impact of El Niño in the second half of the year and by geopolitical uncertainties, such as the United States‑Iran conflict that have pushed oil and gas prices higher.

The early entry of these non‑renewable plants will raise electricity tariffs, with an estimated additional cost of R$ 4.75 billion to consumer bills, and will increase greenhouse‑gas emissions as the units burn fossil fuels. The contracts, originally scheduled to start between December 2026 and January 2028, have been shifted forward to help ensure reliability of Brazil’s National Interconnected System during peak‑demand periods.