The Future of Brazilian Energy Intigration with Peru

November 11th, 2009, Brazil experienced one of its worst blackouts in history. Due to the fall of a transmission line that connects the giant Itaipu Power Plant (the largest operational hydroelectric power plant in the world) to the Brazilian electrical system, the major states of the country had no electricity for more than three hours during the early evening—peak hours for energy consumption. This blackout clearly exposed the fragility of the Brazilian interconnected power system, which is ultra-dependent on the energy generated by the Itaipu Binacional plant.
 
In the weeks that followed, other stories made the Brazilian news.
 
The presidents of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Iran visited the country, marking Brazil’s intention to play a role in the global political game. The country’s plan is to adopt a neutral and flexible mediator position in the Middle East scenario. In some places criticism has arisen, especially from spiteful right-wing Brazilians who don’t believe in the success of the current President. In other circles, however, Brazil is receiving massive praise, especially in global news, and is seen as one of the prevailing global forces of the 21st century. A special report from the prestigious magazine The Economist points out that Brazil is currently growing stronger politically and economically; the report also implies that Brazil has the potential to become an emerging superpower similar to China, but without the uncomfortable burden of a communist market. This same article mentions that Brazil recovered from the financial crisis well before the leading nations of the world and is still in a privileged position in the post-crisis cycle. The Brazilian economic fundamentals are quite strong, indicating Brazilian intentions have the power to be realized. Not only has Brazil just won bids for the Olympic Games and the World Cup, it can also excel at the political game and win over the economic world.
 
But as we are all tired of hearing, energy is fundamental to this economic development. There is no economy without energy, thus so many conflicts begin when players enter the scene of oil-related interests. It is an industry that moves huge amounts of money and contains within itself the world's largest companies, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell. In Brazil this issue is less complex, since the energy is electrical and comes largely from renewable sources, mainly hydropower; nonetheless, the energy issue remains an absolutely crucial and delicate one. The blackout event has exposed a fracture in the Brazilian energy system and is a troubling occurrence from a macro perspective: the economic development that Brazil hopes for is inexorably based on harnessing a massive amount of energy in order to fulfill promises Brazil has recently made regarding potential energy production 
But in which direction can we turn?



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