Brazilian goverment admits risks of more blackouts

The Brazilian government has admitted for the first time to the possibility of more blackouts, which raises serious concerns over power consumption during the upcoming World Cup, local daily O Globo said on Thursday. According to the daily, the Committee for Energy Monitoring (CMSE) released a statement earlier Thursday, in which it admits to a "very low" possibility of the problems in Brazil's energy distribution system. Some 70 percent of Brazil's energy comes from hydroelectric power plants, leaving the country vulnerable to dry seasons. But the CMSE stressed that, unless several other dry seasons are as bad as the current one, there will be no problems in the country's energy supply. Given Brazil's energy production capacity, the CMSE said, the country's production and distribution system is "balanced" and can feed the anticipated power demand this year. Several regions in Brazil are currently facing a shortage of rain - in Rio, for example, it has not rained in four weeks - which leads to the lower water level in several dams. Besides affecting the energy distribution, a long dry spell could endanger the water supply as well. The country had a large blackout in early February, which struck 13 states and capital city Brasilia and affected some 6 million consumers. Some other minor blackouts have affected Espirito Santo state over the past few days.