Lula’s consultant wants to convince him to bury Angra 3 – 06/25/2023 – Panel SA

Former Minister of Mines and Energy in Lula’s second term, Nelson Hubner took office on the board of directors of ENBPar last week and has already set a personal goal to convince the President of the Republic to give up the construction of Angra 3.

Lula’s main adviser for energy, Hubner, who in the past convinced the president to go ahead with the work, now thinks it’s better to bury it instead of spending a lot of money. The plant is the jewel of the Brazilian nuclear program conducted by ENBPar and will need another R$ 20 billion to be ready.

Hubner assesses that the country no longer needs nuclear plants as an energy security mechanism. For him, hydroelectric plants are cheaper and safer as a support for wind and solar sources that, in the last decade, supplanted the hydraulic source in supplying load for the system.

By calculations, in 2028, the load generated by hydroelectric plants will represent less than a third of wind farms. Today, the price of this energy is around R$ 120 per MWh (megawatt-hour).

In this scenario, in Hubner’s assessment, it is insane to invest in Angra 3, which will deliver a MWh (megawatt-hour) of energy at R$ 750.

The government has prioritized the work, but Hubner insists it be abandoned. The initiative is a turnaround. In the past, he even convinced Lula to take over the project as a way of supplying energy to the Southeast, which is intensive in consumption for industries.

In the past, the plant was the target of Operation Lava Jato. The then president of Eletronuclear, Admiral Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva was sentenced to 43 years in prison for charging contractors bribes to win bids and contracts.

The scheme, according to Justice, was in force between 2007 and 2014. The work was paralyzed for many years. Today the project is released, but the reality of the electrical system is different.

Between 2007 and 2008, Hubner was interim Minister of Mines and Energy in Lula’s second term. The following year, he took over the general management of Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency).

During the transition, he collaborated with the government’s plan and is one of Lula’s closest advisers on energy.

With Diego Felix

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