A ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) informed to Canal Solar that there are regions of the country without available capacity for connecting new renewable energy projects for periods exceeding four years.
The confirmation comes just days after Atlas Brasil Comercializadora, a company within the Atlas Renewable Energy group, to abandon the implementation of the Santa Rita Solar Complex, in Buritizeiro (MG), a project that would have an installed capacity exceeding 1 GW.
“Several connection points to the transmission system no longer have sufficient capacity for a period exceeding four years. The currently available margins, as calculated by the ONS (National System Operator),” highlighted the ANEEL.
The problem of unavailable flow capacity has become one of the main challenges for the expansion of renewable energy generation in Brazil, especially in regions with a high concentration of solar and wind projects.
In recent years, the rapid expansion of renewable generation, coupled with slower growth in transmission infrastructure, has increased the occurrence of operational restrictions and mandatory generation cuts, a phenomenon known as curtailment.
In practice, the lack of available capacity means that new developments may face difficulties connecting to the electrical grid, compromising the economic viability of projects and, in some cases, leading investors to suspend or cancel investments.
Government planning acknowledges the problem.
Problems related to operational generation constraints gained considerable prominence in the final version of the PDE (Ten-Year Energy Expansion Plan) 2035, published this week by the Federal Government.
According to the document, the growth of renewable energy generation, coupled with limitations in transmission infrastructure, has increased curtailment incidents and reduced the economic attractiveness of new centralized generation projects.
To address this scenario, energy planning foresees a combination of structural measures. These include investments exceeding R$ 120 billion in the expansion and modernization of the transmission network by 2035, including new regional interconnections and technologies capable of increasing the capacity for transmitting renewable energy.
The PDE also focuses on advancing flexibility resources, such as energy storage systems, whose installed capacity could reach 6,6 GW by 2035, and demand response mechanisms, with an estimated potential of 3,3 GW in the same period.
According to the document, these solutions will be fundamental to increasing the operational flexibility of the National Interconnected System (SIN) and allowing the continued expansion of renewable energy sources in the country.
all the content of Canal Solar is protected by copyright law, and partial or total reproduction of this site in any medium is expressly prohibited. If you are interested in collaborating or reusing part of our material, please contact us by email: redacao@canalsolar.com.br.
An answer
Great article, congratulations Henrique!!!
In the aforementioned expansion and modernization of the transmission network until 2035, what would the new regional interconnections entail? And what technologies would be capable of increasing the capacity for transmitting renewable energy? What is the difference between this and the advancement of flexibility resources (such as batteries)?
Source: https://canalsolar.com.br/brasil-sem-margem-para-conexao-novos-projetos-aneel/