SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Santo Antonio, one of Brazil’s largest hydroelectric plants, has coped with an extreme drought, its head told Reuters, crediting the plant’s resilience to a set of measures that have kept the plant running even in record low waters.
Santo Antonio, on the Amazon’s Madeira River, was forced to temporarily halt operations in 2023 after drought pushed water levels to a then record low of 1.1 meters (3.61 feet), according to data from Brazil’s geological service.
But this year, the plant was able to keep operating despite a worse drought taking Madeira’s water levels to a new low of 0.19 meters.
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“Lessons were learned (in 2023),” the plant’s president Caio Pompeu Neto said, crediting Santo Antonio’s performance to a slate of new measures.
Those include making changes to how it transmits electricity to make sure more power is shipped to states where it is most needed, such as Acre and Rondonia, and creating a system to artificially raise downstream water levels.
“In one of our generators there is a stone in front of the machine. So when we closed all the turbines and spillways, the water flowed through this channel, hitting the rocks and increasing the downstream level of the reservoir,” Neto said.
Thanks to the measures, Santo Antonio, which is run by Latin America’s largest power firm Eletrobras, was able to generate some 400 megawatts (MW) and operate six of its 50 turbines during the drought’s peak this year between September and October.
With the rainy season now gaining pace, the plant is generating 2,000 MW, from a total capacity of 3,568 MW, and 29 of its 50 turbines are in operation, he said.
Still, challenges remain, as the Madeira River sits at just 5.62 meters, below the historic average of seven meters at this time of year.
Neto said that Santo Antonio could take further steps in the event of another extreme drought, noting the plant was in talks with turbine suppliers about ways to potentially operate them safely in lower water levels than normal.
(Reporting by Leticia Fucuchima in Sao Paulo. Writing by Andre Romani. Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Mark Potter)
