A reliance on hydro-electric power makes Brazil vulnerable to drought and water levels are at their lowest for 70 years. Attempts to diversify the country's power sources have focused on gas but an ambitious expansion plan has moved forward slowly.
In 1999, the then minister for mines and energy Roudolfo Tourinho launched a grandiose plan to foster 49 thermo-electric plants.
The construction of the Bolivia/Brazil pipeline and huge Petrobras gas discoveries in the south of Bolivia seemed to confirm Brazil was on the right road.
However,
