ISA Cteep, a private-sector power transmission company, agreed to build the first large-scale energy storage project linked to Brazil’s National Interconnected System (SIN). The company signed a contract with a consortium that includes You.On Energia, a company specialized in energy storage systems, and TS Infraestrutura, which gathers engineering assets spun off from Toshiba.
The companies have not revealed the value of the agreement. The 30-megawatt project was approved by the electric sector regulator Aneel last year to expand the power grid in the coastal cities of São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state. The R$146 million project is expected to start operating by the end of the year in Registro.
The location was chosen due to the high demand for electric power during the summer when tourists flock to coastal towns, said Rui Chammas, CEO of ISA Cteep. “In this region, we typically put in place special operations to ensure the quality of supply. We realized that it would be important to find a way to meet peak demand,” the executive said.
Aneel allowed ISA Cteep to have yearly revenue of R$27 million with the project. Batteries are being imported from China by You.On Energia.
China has the largest companies in terms of scale production of lithium-ion batteries, which means good quality and price, said Giorgio Seigne, CEO of You.On Energia. “There are American and European providers, but they are not competitive in terms of prices and delivery times. We hope that the local industry can provide batteries of the necessary size for a large-scale project in the coming years,” he said.
The batteries are being manufactured and are expected to arrive here by August. The earthmoving works are expected to end by April, and the companies expect to start laying cables by May. Companies have already contracted all the equipment, said Helder Torres, the chief commercial officer of TS Infraestrutura. “We are talking about a very fast deployment project, in a pandemic and war scenario, so we have to be very efficient,” Mr. Torres said.
TS Infraestrutura will make the project’s protection and control panels in its factory in Curitiba, Paraná. “We will be responsible for integrating and controlling the batteries to take information to the substation. This is the first integration in Brazil of a protection and control system between the substation and the storage system,” Mr. Torres said.
The executives believe that new storage projects will emerge in the country from this first effort. According to them, the growth of renewable power sources, with the energy transition, will require such solutions. This happens because renewable sources like solar and wind depend on weather conditions to generate energy, so batteries are a way to store the power generated to be released when the weather is unfavorable.
“One way to expand the share of renewable sources in Brazil’s power generation mix is by giving them greater predictability. A non-dispatchable, non-predictable renewable source, when combined with a storage system, becomes dispatchable, that is, more widely used by the national system operator. So there is a quality improvement in what is delivered by a renewable source,” Mr. Seigne, with You.On, said.
Energy storage can also be a less polluting solution for supplying electricity in systems not connected to the Brazilian grid, he said. Such systems, located mainly in the North region, are mostly supplied by diesel generators, which are more expensive and polluting.
ISA Cteep may seek opportunities to develop new battery projects, the company’s chief executive said. “This first work will be a barometer for future projects, because it will bring knowledge and experience. With the growth of renewable energies, we will need solutions that ensure reliability, regularity and quality in the power supplied. This undoubtedly includes the capacity of the system to store energy,” Mr. Chammas said.
Source: Valor International