Extreme drought this year has showcased the dangers of relying on hydropower
Brazil fails to prevent energy crisis
Government inaction and rapidly changing climate have combined to highlight the importance of diversifying the country’s energy mix
A combination of lack of planning, political miscalculations, technical mistakes and dire climatic conditions have caused an energy crisis in Brazil. And the precarious situation is likely to be as bad as, if not worse than, the crisis of 20 years ago, which left severe economic and political upheaval in its wake. Government initiatives directed at attenuating the effects of the crisis are mostly too little, too late—especially those involving centralised government planning, such as conservation of hydro capacity by altering water flows to different sectors or dispatching sufficient new thermal sources. Since the 2001 energy crisis, Brazil has added much wind, biomass (mostly sugarcane), ga
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
