Over the last few years the electric sectors worldwide have been the scenario of several technological changes, with the growing share of variable renewable energy generation sources (mostly wind and solar photovoltaic) acting as the most striking feature. A large portion of this installed capacity being added through distributed generation (DG), mostly by rooftop generators. This movement is challenging the traditional operation of the Brazilian electric sector, which was built for more than a century over principles of top-down centralized generation and mostly controllable energy sources, usually far off from the consumption centers, and is acting as a disruptive force. By the current regulation, a significant diffusion of DG during the period between rate recalibrations (usually done after every four years) might imply in large losses to the distribution utilities in face of a significant uncertainty concerning the diffusion rate. This paper analyzes the role of the Brazzilian rate structure for electricity in this scenario of DG diffusion. It is found that the current rate strutcture is inadequate for dealing with such diffusion, creating cross subsidies and threating the important economic equilibrium of the services of distribution.
Slides da apresentação dos pesquisadores Francesco Gianelloni, Guilherme Dantas, Job Alves, Nivalde de Castro e Patricia Silva no evento ICEE 2017: 3rd International Conference on Energy & Environment: bringing together Economics and Engineering. O evento é organizado pela FEP (Faculdade de Economia e Gestão da Universidade do Porto) e pela Escola de Engenharia da Universidade do Minho e acontecerá na “Atmosfera M”, no Porto, em Portugal nos dias 29 e 30 de junho de 2017.
Higher efficiency and reliability of the electric system are important goals to be achieved. The increasing growth and importance of intermittent renewable energy sources and its massive incorporation into the electricity grid, given the efforts to diversify the energy mix and reduce the carbon emissions, bring new challenges to the sector, such as the need of higher levels of flexibility. In this context, demand-side flexibility measures come to light as a way of improving system reliability and, at the same time, defer the need for investments in the expansion of distribution and transmission grids, reducing the demand for additional generation capacity and allowing the shave of peak demand, resulting in a reduction of electricity costs. Among these measures, demand response figures as one of great importance. It is based on electricity consumers’ capability to respond to price signals, increasing the consumers’ role in ensuring system security in a cost effective way. The objective of this article is to examine some of the main challenges and opportunities for enabling demand response programs, taking some lessons from the international experience. An additional effort is to focus on Brazilian case. The methodology consists of bibliographic and documental review, with the analysis of challenges and opportunities, followed by an investigation of demand response programs in Brazil. This paper was developed under the framework of a project supported by the ANEEL’s R&D Program. It was found that technological requirements of demand response can be a great obstacle, as observed in some of the European countries cost-benefit analysis and in the Brazilian case. The Brazilian experience is by all means only incipient and takes advantage of a small part of the full demand response potential, but even in this condition, shows some positive results in efficiency.