Brazil’s 2021 simplified capacity auction: Drought-driven emergency capacity procurement

Since August 2020, Brazil has suffered from the worst hydrological period of the last hundred years. With uncertainty over whether reservoirs will recover for the next year, authorities in Brazil are taking multiple measures to improve electricity supply and reduce the risk of rationing. Among the initiatives, the government is organizing a 25 October simplified auction to procure new capacity, for delivery of electricity starting in May 2022. Meeting these tight deadlines is a challenge for both renewable and thermal technologies.