POWER March 2014 - 72

POWER BRAZIL
Global Business Reports
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the government is looking for, " explains
market-leader Renova Energia's president,
Mathias Becker.
Coal and Natural Gas
Brazil has recoverable reserves of around
10 billion mt of coal located in the southern
states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina
and Paraná. The country's natural gas
potential is even more substantial due to
the vast Pre-Salt reserves discovered in the
Santos and Campos Basins. The natural gas
industry has nonetheless grown sluggishly
in Brazil due to a lack of transportation infrastructure
and low domestic prices maintained
by Petrobras. Ten years ago, energy
planners ruled out natural gas from Brazil's
energy matrix and so a considerable investment
is now required, along with an
amendment to the auction process, to get
the sector going.
Solar
In December 2012, ANEEL inalized Normative
Resolution 482, which lays out
the conditions for distributed micro and
mini-generation and creates an electricity
compensation system. With the legislation
for distributed generation now
deined, companies are progressing with
plans to capitalize on the country's 50
million household potential and 1 MW of
residential generation has already been
installed.
Soletrol, one of the largest companies for
solar thermal water heaters in Latin America,
has been in the market since 1981
and is now looking to expand into solar
PV. " The solar thermal industry in Brazil
has grown to the point that we know its
success to be a certainty in the future. For
photovoltaic, the ramp up could be very
rapid, or end up being much slower than
predicted: a great deal depends on the
customer, " said CEO, Luis Augusto Ferrari
Mazzon.
Ailton Ricaldoni Lobo, CEO of renewable
energy generation company, Novas Opções
Energéticas (NOE), is particularly
excited about a solar-powered future: " The
law of micro-generation has made distributed
generation a reality in Brazil. Nowadays,
the inal consumer will spend around
$300 per MWh of solar energy, which is
expensive but feasible due to the payback
of investment. In Minas Gerais, we already
have around 20 systems connected
and generating power, and it is only
just beginning. "
The most promising indication for the
growth of solar in Brazil has been the government's
decision to allow PV and thermal
solar plants with a minimum installed
capacity of 5 MW to take part in the A-3
and A-5 energy auctions, to be delivered in
2016 and 2018 respectively.
None of the solar projects at either auction
were successful, as the price cap of
$60 per MWh made competing with wind
impossible. The price ceiling for solar to be
economical is around $100 per MWh. In order
for the industry to take off, therefore,
it needs some help. Either inancing must
be made more accessible or price differentiation
between energy sources must be
allowed. There have been indications that
the EPE may create an independent
auction for solar in 2014 but nothing is conclusive
as yet.
Transmission,
Distribution and
Smart Grid Solutions
Transmission
Brazil's hydrology complements the country's
transmission system due to the
fact that when it is wet in the south, it is
dry in the north and vice verse. Electricity
is therefore constantly being transmitted
from one region to another. Vast
stretches of transmission lines, however,
lead to around 6% of energy losses and
so high voltage direct current (DC) lines of
600 KV and 800 KV are now being
constructed to transmit power from new
hydro projects in the Amazon via one or
two lines.
Problems have also been encountered with
the wind industry. As the sector took off,
the EPE auctioned transmission lines once
it was determined who had won the auctions.
The system failed, however, as the
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Global Business Reports // POWER BRAZIL
March 2014
http://www.gbreports.com
POWER March 2014

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