During a panel at the 3rd National Solar Energy Meeting, Harry Neto, Director of Solar, BESS and Building at WEG, presented a case study illustrating a growing pain point in Brazilian industry: the difficulty of expanding production when the contracted demand with the utility company reaches its limit.
The company served by WEG was looking to expand its operations, but was hampered by three factors: grid instability, high diesel costs, and the inability to increase demand with the distributor.
The alternative was to build a proprietary generation system — entirely behind the meter (BTM) — combining a solar power plant and batteries.
According to him, cases like this still go unnoticed in the sector, but they are recurring.
“Often, the industry doesn't increase production because it can't meet contracted demand or doesn't want to connect a new system via distributed generation (DG3), incurring the associated taxes. In this case, the solution was to keep everything behind the meter: solar and storage working in an integrated way,” he highlighted.
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In the presented project, the client was already operating in the free market, which facilitated the adoption of a system isolated from the grid from a regulatory standpoint.
The goal was to guarantee energy autonomy, reduce diesel costs, and create conditions to expand the production line. The WEG solution employed was the use of solar energy and BESS with integrated operation. The company installed:
- 3 MWp of solar generation, varying according to demand;
- 2 MW / 5 MWh of BESS (batteries);
- Integration with existing gensets;
- Complete system for monitoring and controlling energy sources;
- Implementation using a full EPC model, conducted by WEG.
According to Harry Neto, with microgrids, the industry now has access to reliable additional energy, without the need to negotiate demand expansion with the utility company and without the costs associated with the distributed generation (D3) model.
Harry also highlighted that the demand for these types of solutions is growing, especially in energy-intensive industries and mining companies, which often operate far from load centers.
“Mining companies, for example, have many similar cases because they are far from the main power grids. BESS, combined with behind-the-meter solar generation, ensures stability, reliability, and allows for expansion without depending on the distributor,” he explained.
He also highlighted that this project reinforces a trend observed by the market: hybrid systems, which combine solar, batteries, and backup generation, have become established as a viable alternative for companies that need to grow but face electrical infrastructure barriers.
According to him, with the expansion of the free market, the advancement of batteries, and the pressure to reduce operational costs, microgrid solutions are becoming strategic for productive sectors.
"This case study demonstrates how the combination of self-generation and storage can unlock investments and ensure energy competitiveness," he added.
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