Regulation of Law 14,300 and the impact on small projects

When Law 14,300 was enacted, at the beginning of last year, we had two important points of attention.

The first was the lack of details in the text of the law, which did not make clear what could happen after the transition period. This did not give us the legal security expected for a Legal Framework for distributed micro and minigeneration in Brazil.

The second point was to know what the ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) could determine in the tariff rules, since the CNPE (National Energy Policy Council) would “listen to society, associations and representative entities, companies and agents in the electricity sector to establish guidelines for valuing the costs and benefits of microgeneration and distributed minigeneration”.

At the beginning of February, ANEEL met to approve the regulation that defines the rules for charging DG (distributed generation) tariffs, as is the case for those who have photovoltaic plants at home.

The new standard defines the charge for the availability cost of electricity distributors, the Distribution System Usage Tariff, which in the case of Distributed Generation is called TUSDg, and for wire B, a fee within the TUSD.

I was in Brasília attending the meeting to contribute arguments against these charges. But ANEEL preferred not to consider the technical elements presented by the photovoltaic solar energy market.

Even though in practice the standard established by ANEEL makes the electricity bill of those who generate energy more expensive, it remains very viable and interesting to install a photovoltaic plant for micro and mini energy generation, as is the case in homes, businesses, industries and rural properties. .

At a time of growth in the photovoltaic sector and the increase in the share of solar energy in the Brazilian energy matrix, it is essential to continue stimulating DG, which contributes to the democratization of electrical energy and the country's energy transition. Thus, energy becomes more accessible and sustainable for an increasing number of people.

Furthermore, distributed generation directly contributes to tackling a serious problem in the country: the challenge in relation to losses with the generation and distribution of electrical energy, both with technical failures in transmission and distribution lines and with so-called non-technical failures. , more specifically with fraud and electricity theft.

A very symptomatic case is that of the Light concessionaire, which in some areas in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro faces losses that exceed the 30% mark, especially with the future of electricity, causing very significant financial losses.

Distributed generation helps to reduce losses, as local energy generation reduces the need to transmit large volumes over long distances. In general, the energy generated by a micro or minigeneration plant and injected into the grid is used by another consumer nearby.

Given so many benefits, we can only wait for new possible changes. A bill already approved by the Chamber of Deputies is still in the Federal Senate, which provided for the extension of the rules prior to Law 14,300 for another six months for new consumers.

Now, it is expected that this project will also make clearer the charges that can be imposed on consumers. Stimulating solar energy in the country will only bring benefits to the entire electrical system.

The opinions and information expressed are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of Canal Solar.