Article published in Magazine Canal Solar – Vol. 6, No. 6, October/2025
The energy transition has brought several challenges to the operation of transmission systems, especially the distribution system. In transmission, load monitoring by generation agents has become more difficult due to the intermittency of primary sources, specifically wind and solar.
With the difficulty in predicting the dispatch of these sources, traditional hydraulic and thermal generation had another factor of uncertainty in the composition of the load-generation balance.
This uncertainty has also hampered the transmission grid's ability to handle these uncontrollable generation fluctuations, creating significant fluctuations in flow and voltage. These variations modify pre-fault system conditions, expanding the range of scenarios available for grid stability and reliability studies.
Going back in time, with the deverticalization that occurred in the nineties, the management of the transmission network was divided into network owners (transmitters) and network operators (ISO – Independent System Operator also called TSO – Transmission System Operator).
The idea was to separate the two functions to bring neutrality to the systemic operation of the network and a certain tranquility in the construction of the electricity market where the ISO would be a neutral body, freeing up access to generation and consumption agents.
Some countries maintained ownership and systemic operation within the same company, such as England, which pioneered the restructuring process. However, last year, the country changed this structure by creating the NESO (National Energy System Operator), and the former NGC (National Grid Company), which performed both functions, ended up retaining sole ownership of the assets.
Brazil, since the Law 9648 of 1998, had already established the ONS (National System of National Electricity), which manages the systemic operation of the transmission grid and defines the dispatches of the predominant power plants at the time—hydroelectric and thermal. With the significant entry of distributed generation, batteries, and electric vehicles into the distribution system, this grid began to have characteristics similar to transmission systems, which until then had only operated loads.
Distributors were the major collectors of energy during transmission and distributed it to end consumers. With this function, radial systems, represented by primary and secondary networks, made the system simpler in terms of measurement, protection, and control because the flow was unidirectional.
Most distributors and distribution cooperatives owned their grids and operated the system to deliver energy. With the introduction of power injection at various points in the grid, distributors began to face significant challenges, with flows varying significantly and in opposite directions.
Click here to download the magazine and read the full article.
The opinions and information expressed are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the author. Canal Solar.
Comments (2)
Comments are moderated before publication.Comments should be respectful and contribute to a healthy debate. Offensive comments may be removed. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author. Canal Solar.
They're constantly inventing a new agency, a new little flag, a new little tax; the truth is there are too many middlemen in this business. The taxpayer is burdened with too many people in the electrical system—generators, transmission companies, distributors, financiers—too many people profiting while too few people are working.
It's high time we started streamlining the electricity system; the fewer intermediaries there are, the less profit we'll have to pay, and the fewer bloodsuckers we'll have to feed off the taxpayer.
The shamelessness of these people has gone beyond the maximum tolerable limit.
The truth is that many companies are making money at the expense of the taxpayer.
It's time to streamline the system – generation, transmission, distribution – there are too many intermediaries to be sustained by the population.