By vetoing sections of the bill that establishes the regulatory framework for offshore wind farms (in the open sea), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) argued that these amendments had the potential to increase energy tariffs paid by Brazilian consumers and increase the consumption of fossil fuels, contrary to international commitments made by the country to combat climate change.
A in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU).
The vetoes were made after consultations with the Ministries of Finance, Development, Mines and Energy, Justice and the Environment, according to the Presidency of the Republic.
Three articles in the text, considered “jabutis” — excerpts unrelated to the main theme of the project — were vetoed.
Among the main reasons given are the potential for an increase in electricity tariffs for consumers, both residential and those in the productive sector, and the need for mandatory additional investments in infrastructure without explicit costs.
Some devices included in the proposal favored coal and natural gas thermoelectric plants, for example. Therefore, a point raised by the government would be the greater use of fossil sources.
In the Presidency’s view, this would not be compatible with “the international commitments assumed by the country or with public policies aimed at the energy transition, the mitigation of climate change and the decarbonization of the Brazilian energy matrix”.
One of the justifications exposed by Lula is related to the veto on the extension of contracts benefiting from Proinfa, a program created in 2002 to encourage the generation of renewable energy, such as wind and small hydroelectric plants (PCHs).
At that time, electricity generation from wind was incipient and needed stimulus to expand. Over time, however, wind technology became cheaper and became more competitive than other sources.
Therefore, entities in the electricity sector pointed out that the extension of Proinfa contracts generated an unnecessary burden on energy consumers.
“Despite the good intentions of the legislator, the provisions go against the public interest, considering that changes to the criteria for the extension of Proinfa contracts would increase the subsidies to be granted by the Program and would cause additional impacts on consumer tariffs. electricity, both residential and in the productive sector, with negative effects on price indices and the competitiveness of the national productive sector”, pointed out the president.
“Additionally, in relation to art. 24, the device goes against the public interest by revoking the rule that conditions the extension of Proinfa projects to the acceptance of the Broad National Consumer Price Index – IPCA as the correction index for these contracts, from 2020 to 2021, replacing the General Price Index – Market – IGP-M. The proposal would result in legal uncertainty resulting from the change in terms agreed between the parties”.
The section that extended the deadline for the start of energy injection by microgeneration and distributed minigeneration (MMGD) agents, which install photovoltaic parks and depend on connection to the interconnected system, was also vetoed.
The government considered that the text, as approved by the National Congress, could also impact the electricity bill, “with negative effects on price indices and the competitiveness of the national productive sector”.
“Furthermore, the proposal, by expanding benefits to MMGD agents, could impact investments for the expansion of the Brazilian electrical system infrastructure,” he added.
