Bolsonaro punishes law that benefits South Carolina’s coal industry – 05/01/2022 – Market

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) Approves, Wednesday (5), the law that renews Policy to support coal production From the Jorge Lacerda Thermal Complex (CTJL), in Santa Catarinaand allowed to operate for another 15 years.

The bill was introduced at the beginning of Bolsonaro’s government, but was approved by the Senate only in mid-December, with the support of the Santa Catarina seat.

Although the license was renewed for this thermoelectric (coal-fired) act, a new law created the PTJ (Policy for a Fair Transition), which aims to clean energy and reduce pollutants. It is also establishing the Energy Transition (ETJ) Program to Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050.

based on Government support in Congress It agreed to allow more time to prepare Santa Catarina until the end of coal-fired thermal electricity generation in 2040. The mines will be closed.

CTJL belongs to the Engie Group and was sold in August of last year to investment fund FramCapital for 325 million Rls.

The new law also secures a government commitment to a contract to purchase power from the plant’s reserve, and establishes enough fixed revenue to cover generation costs.

It also specifies that at least 80% of the inputs (coal) must be obtained to operate the plant in Santa Catarina, a state that has one of the largest support bases in Bolsonaro and has coal activity as one of the major employers.

With the penalty, Bolsonaro also secured the compensation defended by the Santa Catarina Conference in light of ending support for coal-fired power generators.

The government had already agreed that in 2027, the Energy Development Account (CDE) would no longer subsidize power from coal-fired power plants. This account is responsible for the modesty of the tariff.

In addition to renewing support for the coal industry, the new law also establishes a support program for customers who are small distributors – less than 350 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year.

This subsidy was introduced to prevent the tariffs for these small businesses from being higher than those of larger distributors in neighboring cities.

The law also gives advantages to distributors who acquire others with a market of less than 700 gigawatt-hours per year. If this company supplies power to the target company of the purchase, it is entitled to receive 25% of the subsidy now granted under the new law for a period of ten years.