Good morning! Today, an alert for Brazil’s energy production. Legal deforestation gaps in the Cerrado savanna. And why banks are making less money from fees.
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A red flag for Brazil’s energy sector
With rainfall well below average this summer, regulators are lowering their forecasts for water storage for energy generation.
What’s happening. Normally, the rainy season in the main hydroelectric basins in the Southeast (where the country’s main power plants are located) begins in November and lasts until April. However, the Brazilian Chamber of Electricity Trading (CCEE) has drastically reduced its forecast for the year as a whole.
- For April, the CCEE expected reservoir levels to be at 87 percent capacity. They now believe it will remain at 69 percent capacity. And the gap between the January and March forecasts is widening for the rest of the year.
- For September, the apex of the drought season, the 77 percent estimate of water stored in reservoirs dropped to 48 percent.
👉 Why it matters. Hydroelectric power accounts for 62 percent of...