RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Wednesday decided to continue using only local thermal power plants to distribute power to Roraima after the country's northernmost state was cut off from Venezuelan power.
Roraima is the only state in Brazil that is not connected to the national grid. It borders Venezuela and used to rely mostly on energy bought from Venezuelan power plants.
However, the economic crisis in Venezuela has disrupted the power distribution, and 10 days ago, Brazil suspended the use of Venezuelan power and started relying only on four local thermal power plants. However, power from the local plants is more expensive and more polluting.
In the past 10 days, there were no blackouts in Roraima's capital Boa Vista, so the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy decided to continue using the thermal plants only. During the first half of September when Boa Vista was mostly supplied with Venezuelan power, there were several blackouts.
Oil-producing Venezuela has been struggling with an acute economic crisis since crude oil prices slumped in the international market, affecting state coffers and government-run services such as electricity and water.
