Drought Strains Brazil Hydropower Supply, Raising Energy Costs
- Country’s hydro dams struggling as reservoirs shrink
- Inflation, blackout threat may grow if drought persists
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A worsening drought across Brazil that has stoked record wildfires and withered crops now threatens the country’s power supply, raising the risk of higher prices and blackouts in South America’s largest economy.
Hydroelectric plants supply more than half of Brazil’s power, typically at low cost. But the reservoirs that feed those plants are shrinking in the drought. Dams in Brazil’s Southeast-Midwest region are at an average of 57% of total capacity, according to the country’s power grid operator, known as ONS. That’s down from 68% in June. A year ago they were above 78%.