Brazil's first large-scale battery system goes into operation

A ISA CTEEP began the commercial operation of the first large-scale battery energy storage project in the Brazilian transmission system.

The battery system is installed in the Registration Substation (SP), also operated by the company, and occupies an area of approximately 5 thousand square meters, equivalent to half of a football field.

According to the company, in total, there are 180 lithium battery racks, which were produced in China and use the most modern technology currently available on the market.

Battery systems have 30 MW of power, are capable of delivering energy from 60 MWh for two hours and will act at times of peak consumption on the South Coast of São Paulo, during the summer, as a reinforcement to the electricity grid, ensuring additional supply.

In practice, this means that the technology will avoid interruption in power supply due to the excess demand during this period and, therefore, will bring more security and reliability in providing the service to society.

It is estimated that around two million people will directly benefit. In addition to batteries, the scope of the project also includes inverters, transformers, energy management software and automation, protection and control systems.

For Rui Chammas, CEO of ISA CTEEP, the implementation of this project by ISA CTEEP leverages the company's participation in this type of enterprise and in the use of new technologies, positioning it at the forefront of innovation in the Brazilian transmission sector.

“This project allowed us to develop more knowledge and technology and we believe, due to its pioneering spirit, that it will be a great laboratory for the sector. Batteries have a lot of potential to contribute to the energy transition, which will happen efficiently with energy transmission as its central axis. We are very proud to deliver to society another project that contributes to our purpose of generating sustainable value”, explains Chammas.

The company received the TLP (Partial Release Term), with non-impeding pending issues, and will be entitled to receive 90% from the RAP (Allowed Annual Revenue) of R$ 27 million. The investment by ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) is R$ 146 million. Both values refer to June 2021, in accordance with ANEEL Authorizing Resolution 10,892/2021.

Storage Market

According to the study “Battery Storage Systems – Applications and Relevant Issues for Planning”, by EPE (Energy Research Company), the expectation is that the global storage market will receive investment of US$ 660 billion by 2040, due to the decline in battery prices.

“In this sense, batteries prove to be a solution, because they have several applications, such as relieving points of greatest load in the electrical system, in ancillary services, such as voltage and frequency control, power capacity reserve services and compensation of the variability of wind and solar energy generation, enabling greater integration of these renewable sources into the National Interconnected System (SIN) and, consequently, reducing the use of fossil fuels and Greenhouse Gas emissions”, states ISA in a note.

Also according to the company, These characteristics make batteries an essential item when we talk about energy transition and also contribute to the advancement of decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization, as they facilitate the insertion of renewable sources; reduces system operation and expansion costs, as it allows the construction of large projects to be postponed; increases the integration of economic energy sources; it can be reused at other strategic points in the network that require reinforcement in the electrical system due to its rapid implementation, mobility and modularity.

The project

Large-scale energy storage in batteries was a solution proposed by ISA CTEEP, supporting 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 the continuous supply of equipment, which also contributes to the decarbonization of the system.

With this, it is estimated that the emission of 1,194 tons of GHG (Greenhouse Gases) will be avoided in two years of the technology being in operation, in addition to carrying out works in environmental preservation areas, such as the Serra do Mar State Park.

During the work, carried out in record time (nine months), around 250 direct jobs were created.