en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Electric Sector Monitoring Committee (CMSE) of Brazil decided during a special meeting on Wednesday (22nd) to advance the contract delivery dates for five thermal power plants, based on guidance from the National Electric System Operator (ONS). These plants will provide a total capacity of 1.8 gigawatts (GW) starting from September 2026.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) stated that the decision aims to ensure system security and achieve better cost-effectiveness, considering factors such as El Niño forecasts and the impact of the Middle East conflict on diesel and natural gas prices. Four of these plants are winning projects from the 2026 Capacity Reserve Auction (LRCAP, by power), using natural gas, originally scheduled to begin operations in August 2027 and August 2028. They are: Três Lagoas (Petrobras), Termomacaé (Petrobras), Termoceará (Petrobras), and Araucária (Âmbar). The fifth plant to be advanced is Manaus I (Amazonas Energia), which uses diesel and was contracted in the 2022 Capacity Reserve Auction (LRCE, by energy), originally set to start delivery in January 2027. Following the contract advancement, parties must sign supplementary agreements within 20 days.

The government initially estimated a capacity delivery demand of 4.2 GW for 2026 in the LRCAP auction held in March, but only 2.2 GW was actually contracted due to lower-than-expected bids. According to sources, the CMSE assessed that procuring this shortfall was the best option to avoid holding an emergency auction or activating thermal plants without long-term contracts (merchant), which would impose higher costs on the system. For cases without pre-existing contracts, the government estimates costs would be 25% higher than the prices set in the respective auctions. An informed source also revealed that the MME is currently studying advancing contracts for projects originally scheduled to start operations in 2028 and beyond to 2027.