There are currently 536 basic projects for new Small Hydroelectric Power Plants (SHPs) that are not built due to lack of licensing by state environmental agencies. If built, these plants could represent investments in the order of R $ 70 billion and serve about 14 million consumer units. In order to make feasible the implementation of SHPs, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) Secretariat for Planning and Energy Development (SPE) initiated cooperation with state environmental agencies.

The objective of the meetings was to begin the construction of an agenda to standardize procedures, to make feasible a portfolio of SHP projects and to present the advantages of implementation for socioeconomic development for municipalities and for low environmental impact.

In early July, meetings were held with state environmental secretaries in Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná, states that have potential for the implementation of SHPs. It is scheduled for the next August meeting in Minas Gerais. The deputy secretary of the SPE, Hélvio Guerra, is the representative of the MME in the meetings.

The incentive for the development of participatory hydroelectric inventories will also be part of the agenda, a procedure already initiated by the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), which resulted in the pioneering approval in 2019 of the inventories of seven SHPs in partnership with the Environment Institute of Mato Grosso of the South (Imasul).

In addition to actions with environmental agencies, MME has been working through the Working Group (GT) for the Modernization of the Electric Sector to value the attributes of these plants in order to increase their participation in the Brazilian electricity market. The main attributes are: generation capacity more constant than intermittent sources (a fact that contributes to the very growth of wind and photovoltaic implantation) and its location close to the cities to be served.

Another highlight is the elaboration of the new Decennial Expansion Plan (PDE) 2019-2029, which will consider the importance of SHPs as one of the priorities for the Brazilian market. The PDE will be released in December this year.

Small Hydroelectric Power Plants (SHPPs)

Small Hydroelectric Power Plants (SHPPs) are plants with installed power between 5 and 30 MW and a reservoir area of up to 13 km² - excluding the river bed. Today there are 424 PCHs in operation in Brazil.