ISA CTEEP inaugurated, this Thursday (23), the first large-scale battery energy storage project in the Brazilian transmission system, recently energized at the Registro Substation (SP), one of those responsible for supplying the southern coast of São Paulo.
According to companhia, the battery systems have 30 MW of power, are capable of delivering 60 MWh of energy for two hours and act during peak consumption times on the south coast, during the summer, as a reinforcement to the electrical grid. In total, it is estimated that around 2 million people will benefit from the new technology.
Energized in November last year, on December 31st, at 19:21 pm, it already carried out the first peak shaving, that is, the first discharge of energy stored in the transmission system to reduce the peak load and avoid interruption in supply.
“Due to this support, no operational actions were necessary on the network, which increased reliability and security in the provision of the service”, explained Gabriela Desirê, executive director of operations at ISA CTEEP.
“Always open to innovation, ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) has an agenda aligned with the modernization of the electricity sector and the energy transition,” said Sandoval Feitosa, general director of the ANEEL.
“With greater inclusion of wind and solar sources and distributed generation, we will increasingly need the use of innovative storage resources like this to balance supply and demand”, he highlighted.
Next technological frontier
According to Rui Chammas, CEO of ISA CTEEP, storage systems are considered the next technological frontier in the energy transition, capable of contributing to decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization.
“Technology is essential in this journey, because it facilitates the insertion of renewable sources, as it acts to compensate for the variability of intermittent energy generation, which allows increasing the integration of wind and solar sources into the SIN (National Interconnected System) and , consequently, reduce GHG emissions (Greenhouse Gases (GHG)", he highlighted.
The executive also assessed that Brazil – rich in wind and solar resources – has the potential to become a global leader in the development of innovations essential for the energy transition.
“Although they are quite beneficial, as they do not emit carbon, new renewable sources are not dispatchable – that is, they cannot be activated at any time – like hydroelectric and thermoelectric plants. This intermittency creates challenges for the stability and security of the national system”, reported Chammas.
“In this context, our role is to help overcome challenges with projects like this, which represents a historic milestone for the electricity sector and is another step for the company towards business diversification”, he said.
The storage system was a solution proposed by ISA CTEEP, in support of sectoral planning studies, to avoid the activation of diesel generators (equivalent use of 350 thousand liters of fuel).
The solution, in addition to being less polluting, does not cause the same noise as generators and eliminates the transport of diesel to maintain continuous supply of equipment. As a result, in two years of the technology being in operation, the emission of 1.194 tons of GHG will be avoided, and works will be carried out in environmental preservation areas, such as the Serra do Mar State Park.
Sector Innovation Laboratory
For ISA CTEEP, the project will serve as a sectoral innovation laboratory, promoting debates on energy storage, especially due to the immediate response capacity and high operational flexibility of batteries, necessary for the transmission network to reduce energy costs. operation and expansion of the system, as the solution can be reused in other parts of the country that need reinforcement.
In addition to batteries, the scope of the project includes inverters, transformers, energy management software and automation, protection and control systems. In Chammas' assessment, the transmission sector plays a central role in this journey.
“At ISA CTEEP, we have structured a strategic plan that drives the generation of sustainable value and a leading role in the decarbonization movement of the Brazilian electricity matrix, which includes storage”, he commented.
“We are prepared to innovate and invest in order to overcome the gap between the new renewable generation parks, which are growing rapidly, mainly in the Northeast, and the large load consuming centers, located in the South and Southeast”, concluded the CEO of ISA CTEEP.
For the operation of the energy storage system, the company receives RAP (Permitted Annual Revenue) of R$ 27 million. The investment foreseen by the regulator is R$ 146 million. Both values refer to June 2021, according to Authorizing Resolution 10.892/2021 of the ANEEL.
Project curiosities
Batteries were imported from China during the pandemic, which generated a series of particularities, such as closed ports. Since it was impossible to travel to China, everything was accompanied by video.
To transport the entire battery storage system from the Port of Santos to Registro, 45 trailers were used, with four battery racks in each one, in addition to another 17 trailers to transport transformers, inverters and supervision systems.
According to the company, to begin field tests, before energizing the batteries, a mobile substation was used. To position the battery racks on the ground, a crane with a capacity of 220 tons was used.
Professionals from four nationalities worked on the project: Brazilians, Chinese, French and Americans. In total, more than 31 tons of recyclable waste generated during the work were donated to local cooperatives, such as cardboard and plastic.
Advantages of storage
Storage, due to its versatility, acts as a capacity reserve, as it provides energy in times of low generation from other sources and increased demand, ensuring system security. It can also collaborate in ancillary services, such as frequency control and self-restoration, minimizes the impact of the inconsistency of intermittent sources, such as wind and solar, and, consequently, contributes to reducing the dispatch of thermal plants.
