Energy load grows 1.9% in March, points out ONS

The National Electric System Operator (ONS) closed the March numbers and reported that, in the third month of the year, the energy load increased by 1.9% compared to the same period last year, based on data from its monthly bulletin. .

When compared to February this year, the increase was 0.5%.

Over the last 12 months, the load on the National Interconnected System (SIN) grew by 3.3% in relation to the immediately previous period.

The load reached 74,116 average megawatts, but has been affected by the slowdown in some sectors of the economy in these first months of 2022.

Among them is industry, a segment in which the confidence index, measured by the Brazilian Institute of Economics, of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV Ibre) fell for the eighth consecutive month.

However, the ONS also detects a growth in the load provided by the improvement in the public health scenario, with the fall in Covid-19 indicators in the country, which boosted the service sector, more dependent on face-to-face interactions.

The agency also highlighted that there was a 4.1% increase in the load in the Southeast/Midwest subsystem, compared to the same period in 2021.

The fact was caused by the high temperatures, which demanded greater use of refrigeration equipment. Regional consumption was also boosted by the manufacturing sector and local industries.

In the other regions, fall: 2.9% in the North. It was the largest overall reduction, justified by the partial reduction of a contract of a consumer of the free energy market in the region. There were also reductions of 0.9% in the South and 0.8% in the Northeast.