06/10/2023 – 18:14
The last two blackouts in Brazil happened in 2009, due to a failure at the Itaipu Plant, and in 1999, when the President of the Republic was still Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The latter was one of the worst, almost an omen for the 2001 energy crisis that forced Brazil to impose rationing rules.
Now in 2023 we are experiencing a smaller scale blackout, this time, apparently, generated by an undue opening of the North-Southeast interconnection. In a statement, the National Electric System Operator (ONS) states that the cause of the occurrence is still being studied, but social networks have already given their verdict.
We witnessed speeches attacking the government, similar to what happened with rival football teams, such as Botafogo and Flamengo or Palmeiras and Corinthians. We wanted so much for our society to become politicized, to increase the cultural level, but we rarely achieved any of these objectives. We created extreme polarization, which brought nothing positive to Brazil.
The blackout had nothing to do with a government problem, it was a technical issue. As soon as the energy and internet returned, we saw accusations on all social networks about the privatization of Eletrobrás during the Bolsonaro government or about the lack of structure and competence under the Lula government and narratives that gained even more strength throughout the day.
It’s a shame no one talked about the great risk of the country collapsing due to lack of investment. If our GDP gains strength and the production line generates a new ‘boom’, we will certainly face a lack of infrastructure, energy and transportation.
Transport structure in Brazil
Over the years, governments have paid little attention to changing our transport matrix. According to research on logistics costs in Brazil, released by Fundação Dom Cabral, 75% of Brazilian production is transported by road.
Responsible for only 5.4% of national production transport, the railway mode would result in improvements in traffic, pollutant emissions, and a reduction in cargo theft and accidents. An estimated saving of 30%, due to the greater load capacity of the trains.
Energy structure in Brazil
In the energy field, we talk little about the chaos that would be if we increased our productive capacity, as we would have an energy limitation.
There is a correlation between GDP performance and electricity consumption. The logic is quite simple: the hotter the economy, the greater the use of energy. Therefore, it is important that the sector is constantly analyzed so that planning is capable of supporting demand for the future.
The graphs below make this relationship very clear.
In short, I believe that we have the capacity to see new growth in GDP, but it will be limited by the infrastructure barrier, since if we achieve this progress we will see new blackouts across Brazil.
As long as we discuss little about this, the real issues of relevance to the country’s future, we will continue to witness these clashes in our society.
Political fights that take our focus and make society need to choose a side. The economy is not luck and in the end we are all on the same side, suffering the consequences of both of our mistakes.
#blackout #teach