EN 
PT_BR 
ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) does not yet have a strategy to comply with the decision of the TCU (Federal Audit Court) due to the body's determination being recent, as it was made on Wednesday (18). The statement was made by Eduardo Rossi, a regulatory specialist at the agency.
“At the moment there is a lot happening in the electricity sector. Everyone is mainly aware of the situation in Amapá, the energy crisis in the state. We are in a very complicated moment of being able to dedicate forces to take the necessary actions on all fronts, but it is clear that we are evaluating the TCU's decision and seeing how we will act in light of it”, stated Rossi during the Distributed Generation Panel of Proenergia 2020 Energy.
According to Rossi, the TCU's action can be divided into three parts. “The first part is the rationale. At this stage, it is possible to carry out a series of analyzes regarding the TCU conclusion, what should or should not be done in its view. Now, what is more pragmatic, and more important, are the determinations, which can be divided into two parts: the action plan that the TCU determined that ANEEL order and put into practice and the direction that the court gives for the decision in other spheres in the National Congress, via a proposal from the Executive Branch”, explained the ANEEL representative.
The ANEEL representative also highlighted that GD has potential for growth. “It is an initial market, there are 420 thousand consumer units [with generation] in a market of 80 million consumers in Brazil”, he stated.
He also highlighted that the update of REN 482 goes beyond structuring the electrical energy compensation system, it must also address other important points, such as, for example, the detailing of the sealing of the division of the generating plant, B optant and energy storage .
Lawyer Bárbara Rubim, vice-president of Distributed Generation at ABSOLAR, also participated in the panel and highlighted that in the process of updating the Normative Resolution it is essential to consider the attributes of the photovoltaic source.
Furthermore, he highlighted several points that should be considered when preparing the review process. Among them, that the current tariff structure does not allow the benefits brought by solar sources to be internalized and “that DG (distributed generation) cannot be punished by a tariff structure that may be inadequate. “We cannot want to give easy solutions to difficult problems. This is not how we can solve it”, she emphasized.
The second point highlighted by the specialist is the maintenance of the rules in force for existing projects. It is not possible to discuss what has already been done, it is not possible to discuss what the compensation will be like for the consumer, for the entrepreneur who decided to believe in the regulation brought by ANEEL.
Other points highlighted were the need to have a solution for the transfer of ownership and the need to have a transition period while maintaining the current rules. “TCU made something important. The consumer cannot be surprised. So, we need to have a transition period for any rule that comes and this period needs to be communicated in advance”, highlighted Bárbara.
Carlos Evangelista, president of ABGD (Brazilian Association of Distributed Generation), also participated in the debate and when asked about the CBEE (Brazilian Electric Energy Code) clarified the main points that the code aims to update.
“The code seeks balance between all players, seeks consensus. Let's remember that consensus is different from unanimity. It brings to us in the distributed generation sector things that we value highly, it preserves the acquired rights of consumers and investors, and, consequently, respects contracts. It gives security and predictability to the consumer”, highlighted Evangelista.
According to Evangelista, the bill that updates the CBEE has already been presented in the Chamber of Deputies and the expectation is that it will be put to a vote as quickly as possible. Furthermore, he recalled that MP998 contains amendments that directly deal with distributed generation and ABGD hopes that the amendments will be evaluated in a favorable way for the DG sector.
Joaquim Rolim, coordinator of the Energy Center of FIEC (Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará), argued that a careful study should be conducted by ANEEL in conjunction with academia and companies in the electrical sector. “This may be what is missing for us to be able to show that GD has its attributes and that they need to be properly visualized.”
Also during the event, Rolim exemplified how GD favors access to electricity and reduces costs. “In Acre, 150 thousand liters of diesel were consumed per day, around 25% to 30% of the energy consumed in Acre was supplied by fossil fuels. In 2015, the average price of purchased energy was around R$ 1,200 per MWh. So, at that time, we were already thinking about a program aimed at installing solar panels.”
Jonas Becker, CEO of Ecoenergia and Regional Coordinator of Ceará at ABSOLAR highlighted the need for unity in the sector. “If we don’t know where we want to go, any path will do. Class associations need to come to an understanding of the paths. It doesn't need to be unanimous, but it's important to have as much equality as possible so that we know the path we want and where we're going to get,” he said.
Proenergia 2020
Proenergia 2020 started on Wednesday (18) and ended this Friday (20). During the three days of the event, which took place online, participants were able to debate and exchange experiences about innovation and technology for the Brazilian electricity sector, as well as new renewable energy resources for Ceará.
