The consulting volt robotics carried out a study lasting more than a year to find the Costs and Benefits of Distributed Generation for the Brazilian electricity sector and concluded that the benefits far outweigh the costs to the system.
The study took into the premises of the Ten-Year Expansion Plan (PDE 2022-2031), prepared by EPE (Energy Research Company), and international studies on how to calculate the benefits of DG. The conclusion is that the systemic benefits of DG could reach R$84,94 billion by 2031 or R$403,90/MWh.
Second Ewerton Guarnier, Technical Director at Volt Robotics, the greatest benefits are associated with reducing energy costs, reducing the need for investment in new plants, reducing system service charges (ESS) and reducing electrical losses.
According to Law 14.300/2022, from 2029 onwards, s of distributed generation will only have compensation for energy from the part in which there was a benefit from solar.
It was established that the CNPE (National Energy Policy Council) would establish, within six months after the publication of the law, the guidelines for valuing the costs and benefits of DG. Based on these guidelines, the ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency) would have 18 months to present the methodology for valuing the benefits.
It turns out that all these deadlines were not met and, as time es, new investments in distributed generation may be compromised, since investors do not know what the energy compensation rules will be from 2029 onwards.
“As there is a window until 2028, I think we will not have any impact on investments. But as the window is getting closer, it could be that next year or in the following years this could affect investments”, assesses Guarnier.
The study was commissioned by ABSOLAR (Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy). “This study provides a comprehensive of the benefits and costs of distributed generation. We see an important net result, positive for Brazilian society and which would be equivalent, simplifying here, to the old alternative 1 of the public consultation of the ANEEL of 2019", said Rodrigo Sauaia, from ABSOLAR.
The study concluded that DG reduces the cost of thermoelectric generation and the risk of exposure to variations in fuel prices. If the Brazilian Electric System did not have DG, the thermoelectric cost would be R$159 million per month. With the 15% share of distributed solar, this cost drops by 28%, to R$113,5 million/month.
In 2021, at the height of water crisis, the cost of the drought totaled R$28 billion. Without GD, this cost would have been 48,6% higher, R$41,6 billion.
Another conclusion is that without DG, the expansion of centralized generation will be 12 GW greater within the horizon from 2022 to 2031, going from 40,4 GW to 52,4 GW.
On the other hand, with GD, investments in transmission will be greater by R$558,9 million. “In this way, GD is having a negative impact, because because of GD we will have to expand the transmission system further. This is an important point, as it has positive and negative costs. It was not a biased study”, explained Guarnier. “But when we add G&T, we see a cost reduction of R$69,5 billion by 2031,” she concluded.
