Brazil says it will not resort to energy rationing despite low water levels in the country's hydroelectric power plants.

The executive secretary of the Mines and Energy Ministry is Marcio Zimmermann and he tells reporters on Tuesday that Brazil will activate generators fueled by natural gas if needed.

A hotter than usual summer and lack of rain have caused water levels at hydroelectric dams in most of the country to drop to a third of their capacity. The levels are similar to those registered in 2001, when rationing was imposed and blackouts occurred.

Over the past several months Brazil has been hit by power outages.

In late December, President Dilma Rousseff said the outages were caused by poor maintenance of transmission lines.