The ONS (National Electric System Operator) reinforced, this Wednesday (14), the importance of Brazil reintroducing daylight saving time as a way of relieving pressure on the national electricity system.
The recommendation was made during a meeting of the CMSE (Electric Sector Monitoring Committee) and announced by the Operator's general director, Marcio Rea, in an interview with iNFRA Agency.
According to Rea, the proposal mainly seeks to shift energy demand during so-called peak hours — the period in the late afternoon and early evening when energy consumption increases significantly.
For the ONS, the return of daylight saving time is technically important, mainly because of the low level of reservoirs in the South region.
The director explained that the wet season, which ended in April, was shorter than expected – which will force the country to activate thermoelectric plants in the coming months – a situation that, according to him, is worrying, because if it does not continue to rain and the demand for energy continues to grow, the country “will have a problem”.
Rea also reinforced that the adoption of daylight saving time is a political decision, which depends on the evaluation of the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) and the Presidency of the Republic.
CHowever, he stressed that the ONS will continue to forward reports and technical data to the eventual resumption of the policy in the country in 2025.
Understand the controversy over the return of daylight saving time
Daylight saving time was abolished in 2019, on the grounds that the energy savings gained from changing the clock had become irrelevant.
At the time, the advancement of more efficient technologies and the change in the consumption profile were the main arguments used to justify the end of the measure.
In recent years, however, experts and entities in the electricity sector — such as the ONS itself — have once again defended the initiative, claiming that the measure could be an alternative for managing energy demand, especially in periods of greater stress on the system.
The proposal returned to the center of discussions in 2023, when the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) confirmed that it had commissioned technical studies to assess the impacts of resuming the policy.
The analyses indicate that the change can generate benefits not only in of energy savings and reduced use of thermal power plants, but also in better use of solar generation.
In October last year, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, called a press conference to inform that Brazil would not resume daylight saving time in 2024, but that the measure could be adopted from 2025 depending on new analyses. The topic, therefore, now tends to gain new chapters in the coming weeks.
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