Storage systems and optant B will be on the agenda at ANEEL

On the morning of this Tuesday (20), the board of directors of ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) will discuss the draft Technical Note 041/2022 to open a Public Consultation on the regulation of distributed generation in the country.

O Canal Solar brings a series of reports with the main topics brought by the Agency. In the first report, we brought information about dispatchable generation; generating plant division; association for shared generation; between others.

This second report brings up some of the following topics present in the draft Technical Note 041/2022 of ANEEL:

• Storage systems;
• Hybrid power plant and ancillary services;
• Option B;
• Use of surpluses;
• Compensation System.

Storage systems (art. 2 of Law no. 14.300/2022)

Among the many new features introduced by Law 14.300 regarding the connection of distributed micro and minigeneration, is the permission for systems with energy storage and hybrid systems to request a connection quote from the distributor.

It is important to highlight that the Law does not open space for the use of non-renewable sources or price arbitration through charging a battery bank with energy from the distribution network.

This is because for generating plants to be classified as micro or minigeneration and, consequently, to participate in the SCEE, renewable sources of electrical energy or qualified cogeneration must be used.

In NT 041/2022, the ANEEL proposes that the limit of 90% of the estimated energy production of generating plants be adopted as the maximum value of the battery bank capacity, regardless of the technology used.

“This would avoid the implementation of storage systems incompatible with the generation capacity, making it difficult to enjoy the SCEE with energy from the grid instead of the sources mentioned in Law No. 14.300/2022”, assessed the Agency.

Considering the solar energy market, an important point to highlight in this topic is the ANEEL recalls that to be considered dispatchable, solar energy must be associated with a battery system with a minimum storage capacity of 20% of the plant's monthly generation.

As a result, the Agency proposed the following formula:

And to calculate the capacity of the battery bank (kWh), you must use the formula presented below:

Where:

• The battery bank voltage is direct current [Vdc];
• DoD means battery depth of discharge, given as a percentage.

A ANEEL emphasizes that tests must be carried out in laboratories accredited by Inmetro or accredited in other countries that are signatories to the International Laboratory Association (ILAC MRA) mutual recognition agreement.

Hybrid plant and ancillary services (arts. 2 and 23 of Law no. 14.300/2022)

Regarding hybrid plants, the ANEEL recalled that this topic was already addressed in Resolution 945/2021, which amended art. 3 of Resolution 876/2020.

However, the Agency highlighted that the standard does not address hybrid plants within the scope of the distribution system, including the requirements for contracting and billing for use of the network, nor does it address the registration of generating plants with power less than or equal to 5 MW.

And for this reason, the ANEEL sees the need to open a specific process to regulate this issue, with a different scope from that dealt with in Technical Note 041/2022, since hybrid plants have the potential to operate in both the free and regulated markets, in addition to being able to participate in the energy compensation system.

And, according to the Agency, this process should be included in the Regulatory Agenda of ANEEL.

A ANEEL It also pointed out that ancillary services should have specific regulations, to be included in the list of actions contained in its Regulatory Agenda.

Postponement of deadline for completing improvements and network reinforcements (art. 7 of Law no. 14.300/2022)

Article 7 of Law 14.300/2022 made it possible to extend the deadlines established for completing improvements and network reinforcements indicated in the connection budget, in cases of proof of progress in environmental licensing or plant implementation works, when duly communicated by the access to the distributor.

As a consequence, in these cases there would be a postponement of payment of CUSDs (Distribution System Use Contracts).

However, the ANEEL highlighted that the current regulation already provides, in art. 157 of Resolution 1.000/2021, the extension for generating plants, accessing distributors, exporting agents or importing agents.

“Along these lines, in order to regulate art. 7 of the Law, it is suggested to include mini-generators within the scope of art. 157 of REN No. 1.000/2021, with provision for the postponement of the CUSD also in the cases provided for in art. 7 of the Law for these agents. With this, the rule in force in art. 157 of REN No. 1.000/2021 and the possibility brought in the Law would be duly regulated for distributed mini-generators”, proposes the ANEEL.

Minimum period for changing distributor standards or procedures (art. 31 of Law no. 14.300/2022)

One of the determinations of Law 14.300/2022 was that any change in standards or procedures of distributors related to distributed micro or mini-generation, or to consumer units participating in the SCEE, must be published with a minimum period of 90 days for its entry into force.

A ANEEL highlighted in NT 041/2022 that Resolution 1.000/2021 has already established a 120-day deadline for the distributor to issue or change its rules or technical standards in general. Therefore, the determination of article 31 is already in force.

Measurement systems (art. 8 of Law no. 14.300/2022)

According to the Agency, the technical and financial responsibilities for the measurement system for microgeneration systems were allocated to the distributor.

For minigeneration, the financial responsibility for the costs of adapting the measurement system was allocated to the person interested in the connection.

Billing option by Group B (§1 of article 11 of Law no. 14.300/2022)

Law 14.300/2022 established that consumer units with local generation whose total nominal transformer power is equal to or less than 112,5 kVA can opt for billing using the Group B tariff.

As this topic is already addressed in article 292 of Resolution 1.000/2021, ANEEL suggested the inclusion of this article containing the specific conditions so that units with distributed mini-generation can opt for billing in Group B, as determined by Law 14.300/2022.

An important point in this topic is that the new legal provisions on the possibility of opting for Group B billing brought new requirements for Group A consumers to exercise this option, or remain in this billing modality.

For this reason, some Group A users who exercised this option in the past may not be adapted to the new legal criteria.

At this point, the ANEEL brought in its Technical Note the Opinion No. 00096/2022/PFANEEL/PGF/AGU21, which clarified that “in the same way that there is no acquired right to a certain legal regime, the consumer is also not guaranteed the immutability of the billing method of their consumer unit”.

With this, the Agency proposes to grant a period of time so that units that have already exercised this option in the past can adapt to the new legal requirements. If there is no adequacy, it is proposed to apply the provisions in Resolution 1.000/2021 on the testing and supply period without the appropriate contract.

Limits on the use of surpluses and energy credits and charging the cost of availability (art. 16 of Law no. 14.300/2022)

On this topic, Law 14.300 does not bring many innovations, since Resolution 482/2012 already contains rules for the offset of credits generated through micro and minigeneration.

On this point, the Law brought the possibility of reducing the availability cost for microgenerators with compensation at the same generation location, and whose installed power is less than or equal to 1.200 W, with the responsibility of ANEEL establish the value of the reduction.

In the Technical Note, the Agency assesses that “from a technical point of view, there is no reason to differentiate between users covered by paragraph 2 of art. 16 of the Law on other consumers. In other words, except for the legal possibility of reduction, these users are the same as their peers, causing similar impacts, without being able to differentiate them from a technical or economic point of view. Therefore, the reduction in the cost of availability made possible by the Law would only increase the tariffs of other users, without identifying the gains resulting from the measure”.

That is, the ANEEL suggests that there be no reduction for users covered by paragraph 2 of art. 16 of Law 14.300/2022. The Agency claims that its proposal is based on the principle of tariff moderation, since, according to it, other consumers who do not have microgeneration are already being burdened with other subsidies brought in by the same Law.