The transmission network is the first link between large power generation facilities and electricity customers. It supplies energy at high voltages to substations, where the energy is distributed via the distribution network. The transmission network today operates with a high level of reliability, but presently a variety of technologies offers the possibility of great improvement in system performance.Sophisticated new monitoring systems may reduce the likelihood of system failures and disruptions that cause serious economic and social consequences. Emerging efficient technologies may also help to solve network expansion constraints, including difficulties to install new transmission lines and to incorporate growing participation of intermittent energy plants, like wind and solar. This paper starts presenting the status and perspectives of the Brazilian transmission sector showing the high level of investment planned until 2024 – 60% cumulative growth of line extensions and the same 60% rate for transformation capacity. In the second part the paper presents the emerging technologies and the potential opportunities it offer to increase, among other factors, the energy quality, O&M structure, availability and reduction of technical losses. These advantages impact not only for new assets but also for the existing ones. Considering the existing assets the paper starts a discussion about the regulatory framework ant the right economic signals to promote investment in innovation and automation. The paper then addresses the emerging regulatory of OFGEM in UK and the existing regulatory barriers that still exists internationally and in Brazil. The paper concludes by identifying an opportunity for developing a regulatory R&D project to deeply analyze this subject and to propose a new regulatory framework to promote an economical feasible innovation process for the Brazilian transmission sector. In the last part the paper presents the guidelines and structure of the project GESEL is starting to develop in the scope of the Brazilian ANEEL regulated R&D program.
O objetivo do presente trabalho é identificar alternativas para lidar com os desafios inerentes à expansão de fontes não controláveis na matriz elétrica brasileira. A metodologia utilizada teve como base a realização de revisão bibliográfica, análise documental e consulta a especialistas, visando à construção de dois cenários, um de referência e outro alternativo. Os resultados encontrados indicam que a alternativa a ser priorizada no cenário de referência é baseada na conjugação de contratação de termoelétricas e de reforços no sistema de transmissão. Já no cenário alternativo, são adotadas medidas de gerenciamento da demanda, viabilizada através do desenvolvimento de redes inteligentes e da difusão do armazenamento de energia.
O sistema elétrico do Brasil se caracteriza por ser um sistema com nítida preponderância hidrelétrica. Todavia o país possui um grande potencial hídrico remanescente, situado principalmente na região amazônica. As usinas fio d´água, construídas nesta região, representam um grande desafio para o setor, principalmente para a operação do sistema, traduzindo também uma necessidade importante de ajustes no marco regulatório do setor para contornar os problemas que emergiram da alteração de características do sistema interligado.
A partir do ano de 2004, passou a vigorar um novo modelo para o setor elétrico brasileiro (SEB), com base em três pilares: garantia da expansão da capacidade instalada, modicidade tarifária e universalização do acesso à eletricidade. Para atingir estes objetivos, foi retomado o planejamento subordinado à responsabilidade do Estado, que havia sido transferido para os agentes privados a partir dos anos 1990. A criação da Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE) atende tal finalidade, e, através do Plano Decenal de Expansão de Energia (PDE), formula anualmente previsões de expansão de oferta e demanda de energia para um período de 10 anos à frente, transformando-se em importante instrumento de planejamento para o SEB. A contratação de nova capacidade instalada passa a se dar via leilões de energia, através dos quais é realizada a concessão de novas usinas e garante-se o atendimento à totalidade da expansão da demanda prevista pelas distribuidoras para os consumidores cativos. O artigo busca fazer uma comparação entre as proposições do PDE e os resultados dos leilões ocorridos até 2015. Essencialmente, procura-se responder se, através do planejamento indicado e dos leilões realizados, estamos de fato caminhando para uma matriz elétrica estratégica para o SEB.
O artigo insere-se no projeto de pesquisa “Impacto dos Recursos Energéticos Distribuídos sobre o Setor de Distribuição”, desenvolvido pelo GESEL, financiado pelo Grupo Energisa e vinculado ao Programa de P&D da Aneel. Os autores, Nivalde de Castro, Lorrane Câmara e Max Ramalho, tratam de assuntos debatidos no congresso Brasil Solar Power, no contexto do avanço acelerado da Energia Solar Fotovoltaica. O artigo aborda os temas “comercialização de excedentes”, “questão tributária” e “financiamento”.
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The article is part of the research project “Impact of Distributed Energy Resources on Distribution Sector”, developed by GESEL with Energisa Group and linked to Aneel’s Research and Development program. The authors, Nivalde Castro, Lorrane House and Max Ramalho, deal with issues discussed in Brazil Solar Power Congress in the context of accelerated advance of Photovoltaic Solar Energy. The article discusses the topics “marketing surplus,” “tax issue” and “financing”.
The work aims to analyze UK’s and Brazil’s wholesale electricity trading models. UK’s model, also known as New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA), can be considered a reference for the present day electricity markets. Recently UK has implemented a market reform that, while maintaining UK’s market structure, introduced several strong regulatory economic signals in order to foster new investments, both in thermal and in low carbon emission electricity generation. Brazil’s wholesale market model is also noteworthy as it managed to promote large scale investments in low carbon generation in a liberalized market environment. However, Brazil’s regulatory framework design proved fragile during a recent long draught period when short term financial obligations related to imbalance settlements soared and led to financial stress and, eventually to a market halt.
The transmission network is the first link between large power generation facilities and electricity customers. It supplies energy at high voltages to substations, where the energy is distributed via the distribution network. The transmission network today operates with a high level of reliability, but presently a variety of technologies offers the possibility of great improvement in system performance. Sophisticated new monitoring systems may reduce the likelihood of system failures and disruptions that cause serious economic and social consequences. Emerging efficient technologies may also help to solve network expansion constraints, including difficulties to install new transmission lines and to incorporate growing participation of intermittent energy plants, like wind and solar. This paper starts presenting the status and perspectives of the Brazilian transmission sector showing the high level of investment planned until 2024 – 60% cumulative growth of line extensions and the same 60% rate for transformation capacity. In the second part the paper presents the emerging technologies and the potential opportunities it offer to increase, among other factors, the energy quality, O&M structure, availability and reduction of technical losses. These advantages impact not only for new assets but also for the existing ones. Considering the existing assets the paper starts a discussion about the regulatory framework ant the right economic signals to promote investment in innovation and automation. The paper then addresses the emerging regulatory of OFGEM in UK and the existing regulatory barriers that still exists internationally and in Brazil. The paper concludes by identifying an opportunity for developing a regulatory R&D project to deeply analyze this subject and to propose a new regulatory framework to promote an economical feasible innovation process for the Brazilian transmission sector. In the last part the paper presents the guidelines and structure of the project GESEL is starting to develop in the scope of the Brazilian ANEEL regulated R&D program.
The promotion of a reliable and sustainable power system has as key drivers the development of smart grids associated with demand-side management schemes, diffusion of electric mobility, accommodation of larger shares of distributed generation, in particular microgeneration and the introduction of storage systems. In addition, these technological development vectors represent new business opportunities for several players (utilities, retailers, ESCOs, aggregator entities, etc.), which should be considered by regulatory guidelines accounting for technical efficiency, economic feasibility and tariff affordability. The technical and economic characteristics of the electricity sector (capital intensive, undifferentiated product, regulated tariffs, almost inelastic demand, need of instantaneous balance between supply and demand, etc.) do not induce that the process of technological innovation happens in an endogenous manner within the sector dynamics. Therefore, public policies have a role to play in this process. This communication presents an approach using Problem Structuring Methods to frame the problem of analyzing and evaluating technological innovations and associate incentive policies in the electricity sector. The results of this structuring phase using Soft Systems Methodology suggest a large number of issues that were organized as a hierarchy of objectives. These objectives will correspond to the criteria of a Multicriteria Decision Analysis methodology devoted to assessing the potential courses of action promoting technological innovation. This methodology should provide decision support to policy and decision makers to shape policies aimed at fostering more reliable and sustainable electricity systems.
The Annual Energy Production (AEP) estimated over the lifecycle of the project is one of the most important factors to determine the profitability of wind power project. The methods used to estimate the AEP in a wind farm requires an assessment of the uncertainties associated at all steps. To finance a wind power project, banks requires that the developer submit the uncertainties related to the estimation of AEP’s wind farm, to mitigate errors and increase the project reliability. The appropriate assessment of uncertainties is critical to determine the feasibility and risk in developing a wind energy project. This study presents the main sources of uncertainty in the energy estimate process in wind farms. This information is important for the correct analysis of the economic viability of the project.
Electric integration is a topic discussed and promoted worldwide due to the advantages for the countries involved. In order to enjoy these advantages several countries, mainly in Europe, have created regional electricity markets. For South America countries the creation of a regional electricity market is still a distant option due to economic and social asymmetries and, especially, because of incompatibilities in the regulatory framework and in energy trading mechanisms. This paper aims to analyze the electrical integration process in the South America, concentrating in Brazil the central focus of the analysis. The main constraints of Brazil’s regulatory and electricity trading model are also analyzed, highlighting that the last restructuring process of the electric sector (2003-2004) has defined a commercial model where financial contracts of “physical guarantee” are traded and not electricity itself, and where the power plants do not have autonomy over their production. The characteristics and specificities of the Brazilian model determine boundaries and conditions that must be considered to enable international electricity trade. The already existing integration projects are also analyzed highlighting that these projects were developed under special conditions for taking advantage of specific opportunities without the support of a strategic integration policy. Additionally, the paper addresses two other electrical integration projects that are under discussion, the binational hydroelectric power plants between Brazil-Argentina and between Brazil-Bolivia. The paper concludes that electrical integration with direct participation of Brazil is more feasible for binational projects and short-term surplus trade because of the differences between the Brazilian market design and the other countries market design.