O presente estudo volta-se para a análise do Desempenho do Índice de Energia Elétrica à Luz das Mudanças Institucionais no Setor Elétrico Brasileiro. Para tal fim, o estudo focou seus esforços na análise do impacto da Medida Provisória nº 579 de 11 de Setembro de 2012 (convertida na Lei nº 12.783/2013) sobre as ações do Setor de Energia Elétrica, representadas aqui pelo respectivo índice do setor na BM&FBOVESPA. Os resultados da pesquisa revelam que a partir do lançamento da Medida Provisória nº 579 até o fim do intervalo de tempo observado (Abril de 2015), o Índice de Energia Elétrica não se recuperou da inversão de tendência provocada por esta medida, o que antes era uma tendência de crescimento instantaneamente se tornou uma tendência de estagnação/declínio.
A geração termoelétrica foi fomentada por políticas públicas que visavam ancorar a expansão da oferta de gás natural no Brasil e complementar a geração hidroelétrica, mas o parque térmico vem desempenhando um papel mais amplo do que este, embora o suprimento de gás continue sendo um gargalo no país. Novos instrumentos regulatórios devem enfrentar ambos os desafios e potencializar a geração térmica.
A hidroeletricidade possui papel relevante e estratégico na matriz elétrica brasileira. O Brasil ainda dispõe de grande potencial dessa fonte renovável, principalmente na região Amazônica. Por ser uma região de grande complexidade, a construção de usinas, como Santo Antônio, Jirau, Teles Pires e Belo Monte, tem estado no meio de debates, principalmente pelos impactos socioambientais que podem causar. No entanto, para que esses impactos sejam evitados, mitigados, compensados e/ou potencializados são propostas medidas, que contribuem, inclusive, para o desenvolvimento regional. A análise das possibilidades de ocorrência desses impactos é relacionada aos atrasos no processo licitatório, indicando a existência de outros problemas, falta de maior articulação entre os diferentes órgãos governamentais, falta de regulamentação e, incerteza em certos encaminhamentos para o processo de licenciamento. Para que as projeções de demanda dadas pelo Plano Decenal de Energia (PDE) sejam atendidas, é preciso que os leilões supram as expectativas criadas pelo plano. Porém, algumas usinas não são licitadas no leilão previsto, em função de atrasos para obtenção da licença prévia, em sua maioria por causa dos desafios citados, causando divergências entre as projeções, um dos motivos pelo qual a data de entrada em operação de uma mesma usina pode sofrer variações de um PDE para outro.
O tema de mudanças climáticas vem sendo associado com a questão energética, em especial as energias renováveis, que são dependentes dos recursos naturais como água e vento, por exemplo. A relevância desta relação deve-se ao fato de, por um lado, as fontes renováveis de energia representarem uma das principais alternativas estratégicas para a mitigação da mudança do clima global. E, por outro lado, ao serem dependentes das condições climáticas, ficam potencialmente sujeitas a impactos do próprio fenômeno que pretendem evitar. No entanto, o segmento de geração de energia elétrica baseado em fontes não renováveis, especificamente das centrais termelétricas, também está sujeito aos impactos das mudanças climáticas, no que se refere ao recurso natural água. Os processos de geração das centrais térmicas são também dependentes das águas para suportar os sistemas de resfriamento. Neste contexto, o trabalho proposto tem como objetivo central estruturar uma revisão da literatura sobre o tema de impactos de mudanças climáticas sobre o setor de energia elétrica no segmento das hidrelétricas e das centrais térmicas, tendo como foco analítico o Brasil, os Estados Unidos e União Europeia, em função da diversidade econômica e da composição da matriz elétrica destas regiões.
O artigo insere-se no projeto de pesquisa “Impacto dos Recursos Energéticos Distribuídos sobre o Setor de Distribuição”, desenvolvido pelo GESEL, financiado pelo Grupo Energisa e vinculado ao Programa de P&D da Aneel. Os autores, Nivalde de Castro, Lorrane Câmara e Max Ramalho, tratam de assuntos debatidos no congresso Brasil Solar Power, no contexto do avanço acelerado da Energia Solar Fotovoltaica. O artigo aborda os temas “comercialização de excedentes”, “questão tributária” e “financiamento”.
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The article is part of the research project “Impact of Distributed Energy Resources on Distribution Sector”, developed by GESEL with Energisa Group and linked to Aneel’s Research and Development program. The authors, Nivalde Castro, Lorrane House and Max Ramalho, deal with issues discussed in Brazil Solar Power Congress in the context of accelerated advance of Photovoltaic Solar Energy. The article discusses the topics “marketing surplus,” “tax issue” and “financing”.
The work aims to analyze UK’s and Brazil’s wholesale electricity trading models. UK’s model, also known as New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA), can be considered a reference for the present day electricity markets. Recently UK has implemented a market reform that, while maintaining UK’s market structure, introduced several strong regulatory economic signals in order to foster new investments, both in thermal and in low carbon emission electricity generation. Brazil’s wholesale market model is also noteworthy as it managed to promote large scale investments in low carbon generation in a liberalized market environment. However, Brazil’s regulatory framework design proved fragile during a recent long draught period when short term financial obligations related to imbalance settlements soared and led to financial stress and, eventually to a market halt.
Higher efficiency and reliability of the electric system are important goals to be achieved. The increasing growth and importance of intermittent renewable energy sources and its massive incorporation into the electricity grid, given the efforts to diversify the energy mix and reduce the carbon emissions, bring new challenges to the sector, such as the need of higher levels of flexibility. In this context, demand-side flexibility measures come to light as a way of improving system reliability and, at the same time, defer the need for investments in the expansion of distribution and transmission grids, reducing the demand for additional generation capacity and allowing the shave of peak demand, resulting in a reduction of electricity costs. Among these measures, demand response figures as one of great importance. It is based on electricity consumers’ capability to respond to price signals, increasing the consumers’ role in ensuring system security in a cost effective way. The objective of this article is to examine some of the main challenges and opportunities for enabling demand response programs, taking some lessons from the international experience. An additional effort is to focus on Brazilian case. The methodology consists of bibliographic and documental review, with the analysis of challenges and opportunities, followed by an investigation of demand response programs in Brazil. This paper was developed under the framework of a project supported by the ANEEL’s R&D Program. It was found that technological requirements of demand response can be a great obstacle, as observed in some of the European countries cost-benefit analysis and in the Brazilian case. The Brazilian experience is by all means only incipient and takes advantage of a small part of the full demand response potential, but even in this condition, shows some positive results in efficiency.
Since the second half of the 1980s, when electric utilities were first privatized, the ability of the private sector to manage the supply of electricity with safety and quality has become a matter of high relevance for national governments wherever privatization has taken place. In this regard, the severe financial problems that have affected some electric utilities in different countries from time to time, have made it increasingly clear that exposure to financial risk can compromise a utility’s ability to maintain service quality and continuity, and therefore that regulatory authorities should pay attention to the identification and control of utilities’ financial risk exposure. This article aims to explore the factors that could contribute to the financial vulnerability of electricity distribution companies, in order to identify potential instruments for risk recognition and management. This study also proposes to examine possible regulatory policies for monitoring and addressing financial sustainability problems in these companies, a topic which has so far received scant attention in the international literature on electricity regulation. Lastly, this paper will evaluate the feasibility of regulating the financial exposure of electricity distributors.
Electric integration is a topic discussed and promoted worldwide due to the advantages for the countries involved. In order to enjoy these advantages several countries, mainly in Europe, have created regional electricity markets. For South America countries the creation of a regional electricity market is still a distant option due to economic and social asymmetries and, especially, because of incompatibilities in the regulatory framework and in energy trading mechanisms. This paper aims to analyze the electrical integration process in the South America, concentrating in Brazil the central focus of the analysis. The main constraints of Brazil’s regulatory and electricity trading model are also analyzed, highlighting that the last restructuring process of the electric sector (2003-2004) has defined a commercial model where financial contracts of “physical guarantee” are traded and not electricity itself, and where the power plants do not have autonomy over their production. The characteristics and specificities of the Brazilian model determine boundaries and conditions that must be considered to enable international electricity trade. The already existing integration projects are also analyzed highlighting that these projects were developed under special conditions for taking advantage of specific opportunities without the support of a strategic integration policy. Additionally, the paper addresses two other electrical integration projects that are under discussion, the binational hydroelectric power plants between Brazil-Argentina and between Brazil-Bolivia. The paper concludes that electrical integration with direct participation of Brazil is more feasible for binational projects and short-term surplus trade because of the differences between the Brazilian market design and the other countries market design.
The Annual Energy Production (AEP) estimated over the lifecycle of the project is one of the most important factors to determine the profitability of wind power project. The methods used to estimate the AEP in a wind farm requires an assessment of the uncertainties associated at all steps. To finance a wind power project, banks requires that the developer submit the uncertainties related to the estimation of AEP’s wind farm, to mitigate errors and increase the project reliability. The appropriate assessment of uncertainties is critical to determine the feasibility and risk in developing a wind energy project. This study presents the main sources of uncertainty in the energy estimate process in wind farms. This information is important for the correct analysis of the economic viability of the project.