How does drought affect hydropower production?

This necessarily leads to a greater presence of non-renewable sources, such as thermal –through fossil fuels that generate greenhouse gases–, or in a increase in energy importwhich means higher spending for the state.

The numbers behind the consequences of the drought on electricity generation

According to the report “Energy Indicators”, recently published by the consultancy SEG Ingeniería, currently, the renewable options represent the 88% of the country’s total electricity generation. In the period between September 2022 and last February 14, the hydropower accounted for 33% of that total, only surpassed by the wind (43%) and followed by the thermal (12%), the biomass (7%) and the solar (3%).

But if you only take January, the production of energy through hydrological means explained only the 22% of the total, well below the historical average of 45%according to UTE data.

It should be noted that in the last 15 years the proportion referred to hydropower showed a setback in the respective droughts of each period. Before the energy transition, between March 2008 and July 2009, it was 49%; after the transition, between February 2020 and March 2022, from the 3. 4%, and now, one percentage point lessat the time when wind power gained greater prominence.

The water deficit produces devastating effects on hydroelectricity: in the triennium 2020-2021-2022when the worst drought in the history of the Uruguayit was the one of lower water contributions since the last 75 years, that is, since 1947.

From the point of view of generation, during this period the production of hydroelectricity fell considerably. to represent the 59% between 2015 and 2019 it dropped to 3. 4% during the drought between 2020 and 2022.

“For 26 months, the most powerful electricity generator in Uruguay, the Salto Grande dam, received water contributions 57% lower than the average of the previous decade,” said the SEG report. “Responsible for 40% of hydraulic production, the Rio Negro basin showed a similar situation, with records of contributions 61% lower than the average of 2010-2019,” the document added.

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