New GD compensation rules are now in effect

As new compensation rules, established in 14.300 Law for projects GD (distributed generation), are officially in force in Brazil.

Thereby, who files requests for solar energy generation with distributors will have to pay the TUSD (Distribution System Usage Tariff), calculated based on the amount of energy injected into the grid, with this percentage being applied gradually until 2028. 

A 14.300 Law, published in January 2022, established a transition period that guaranteed until 2045 a maintenance of old rules for anyone who sent the access opinion request by 23:59 pm on January 6, 2023. 

A deadline caused a rush from consumers and integrators solar energy in the search for requesting access opinions to ensure the application of the old rules in your systems.

What to expect from GD?

Despite the new rules determined by Law 14.300, the installation of solar energy panels and other sources in the DG segment will continue to grow and be attractive over the next few years, according to professionals interviewed by Canal Solar. 

To Bernardo Marangon, managing partner of Exata Energia, the change will not make GD's growth unfeasible, even with the fact that its customers will lose, on average, a third of the return on investments compared to the current rule. 

According to him, the investment of customers who generate and consume energy in the same location – which currently represents around 80% of the volume of installed projects – will remain viable, due to the simultaneity factor.

“On the other hand, investment in remote DG will suffer more because, normally, those who invest in this type of project seek to offer savings to their customers. Furthermore, it does not have the simultaneity factor that mitigates the impact of changing the compensation rule, as it needs to inject all energy into the grid”, he commented.

Yes, Roberto CaurimCEO of Bluesun believes that the sector needed a document that would guarantee legal security for companies operating in the area. For him, the legislation could be better, but without it it would be worse.

The executive revealed that Bluesun also began to make a platform available on its website for calculating payback for photovoltaic systems, already in compliance with the rules of Law 14.300. 

According to him, in some cases it was possible to notice that the return time on system investments was equal to or even shorter than in relation to current rules.

“We came to the conclusion that slightly smaller photovoltaic systems, around 10 kWp, in several cases, were cheaper with the new law than with the old law, because they will no longer have an availability rate”, he commented. 

Yes, Guilherme Chrispim, president of ABGD (Brazilian Association of Distributed Generation) believes that a “certain alarmism” has been created due to the change in compensation rules. 

“GD was once again the source that added the most power to the Brazilian electrical system in 2022. The interesting thing about this is that if you add up all the other renewable sources, they do not reach the practically 7,7 GW that GD put in”, he stated. 

Chrispim also said that the change of the law will not hinder the growth of GD in the country and that the expectation is that the numbers will remain “very balanced” in the coming years.

For him, this occurs because the national and global energy market is on the side of DG due to the need for greater energy consumption by people and the need for the planet to achieve decarbonization goals. 

“I am fully convinced that 2023, 2024 and 2025 will be very positive years and a lot of growth for the sector, which, as in every production process, is adapting to the new rules and maturing”, he stated.

“After this period of greater insecurity for people, I believe that in February or March companies and end consumers will be better adjusted to the new rules”, he concluded.