The Ministry of Mines and Energy establishes new generation parameters and physical assurance for the Azulão II thermal power plant, located in the state of Amazonas.
The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), has formalized new operational guidelines for the country’s clean energy and thermal generation sector. The changes directly affect the delivery capacity and operating regime of the Azulão II plant.
The measure was published in the Federal Official Gazette and supersedes previous regulations that had been in effect since 2022. The goal is to provide greater predictability to the national electrical system, detailing specific volumes of mandatory generation throughout the months of the year.
New seasonal inflexibility levels
The ordinance establishes that the plant, which has an installed capacity of 602.485 MW, will operate with differentiated levels of inflexibility. This indicator represents the minimum volume of electricity that must be generated, regardless of economic dispatch criteria in the SIN (National Interconnected System).
The period of highest demand will occur between June and December, when inflexibility will reach an average of 559.84 MW. For the early months of the year, the volumes fluctuate: they are set at an average of 195.94 MW in January, February, and May, drop to an average of 180.59 MW in March, and reach zero in April.
Physical assurance and technical indexes
In addition to seasonal operation, the ministry set the unit’s physical assurance at an average of 555.4 MW. The calculations were made directly at the generator output buses, requiring operators to deduct the plant’s internal consumption and power grid losses for commercial purposes.
The government document also stipulates important operational limits for the facility located in the northern region. The maximum capacity factor was established at 98.83%, accompanied by an equivalent forced outage rate of 3% and a scheduled outage rate of 3.07%.
These regulatory updates seek to optimize regional energy security and align the performance of large thermal power plants with the strategic planning demands of the Brazilian electricity sector.
With the consolidation of these rules, the MME reinforces control over the national generation park. The expectation is that balancing these volumes will bring greater stability to the energy supply in Amazonas, balancing the production matrix against the country’s seasonal challenges.
