Mais uma IV Transmission Expansion Plan Given the growing interest in wind power and a strong pipeline of generation projects, it is important that transmission is planned in accordance with the commissioning schedules of these projects. Brazil’s energy research company, Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE), released the latest transmission expansion programme (PET) for the period 2013-17 in March 2013. The programme lists lines and substations expected to start operations in the five-year horizon, including both previously planned and new projects. Overall, the plan entails the construction of 10,500 km of transmission lines and 21 substations entailing an investment of USD14.6 billion. Specifically, the programme includes the transmission systems required for evacuating power from wind farms that were awarded in the energy auction A-5 of 2011. The auction had selected 39 wind farms with an aggregate capacity of 976 .5 MW. The plan also details the system reinforcements necessary to handle the potential foreseen in the state of Ceará. Also in May 2013, the EPE submitted its study to the Ministry of Mines and Energy for the expansion of the basic transmission network, which will allow the grid connection of wind farms that are selected in the upcoming energy auction. The states where reinforcement works will be done are Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul. In fact, these are the states where most of the current installed capacity is concentrated. Ceará accounts for 36 per cent followed by Rio Grande do Sul at 22 per cent, Santa Catarina at 17 per cent and Rio Grande de Norte at 16 per cent. Also, most windy sites are located in these north-eastern and southern parts of Brazil and hence these are the focus of the transmission planning exercise. Based on the record of wind projects that participated in the previous auctions, the study includes expansion projects entailing an investment of around USD1.12 billion. The proposed expansion works include the construction of 1,765 km of 500 kV transmission lines and four new substations by 2016. This expansion will allow about 6,900 MW of wind power projects to be connected to the grid. Specifically, the transmission lines will link 1,200 MW of planned projects in Ceará, 1,500 MW in Rio Grande do Norte, 1,800 MW in Bahia and 2,400 MW in Rio Grande do Sul. It is expected that contracts for building these power lines will be auctioned in December 2013 and completed well ahead of wind farms that win contracts in 2013 and 2014. EPE is also in the process of submitting a report to the Ministry of Mines and Energy detailing where the lines should be built, based on a list of 400 proposed projects that the Ministry has received from various developers. While these transmission plans look good, it must be ensured that they are executed without delays. The Brazilian wind power market has experienced tremendous growth during the last few years and transmission planning now needs to be fast tracked. Most of the delays in transmission projects have been reported due to delays in obtaining environmental clearances. Hence steps need to be taken to speed up the process of obtaining such approvals. The industry has also recommended that future generation projects and their related transmission lines should be auctioned together and not separately, as is currently the case. In fact, for the upcoming reserve auction of 2013, only projects that will have access to the transmission network have been allowed to participate. The response has been very positive and a record number of 655 wind farms with a capacity of 16,040 MW have registered with EPE. Such steps will ensure that commissioned projects do not have to wait to become operational. Also, it is reported that the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Energy Research Company are mapping the country’s wind potential areas and their transmission requirements and are looking to extend the transmission network to these areas, even if potential projects in the region do not bid in auctions in the near future. Abeeolica has also suggested that the country’s power regulator, Agencia Nacional de Energia Eletrica (ANEEL), should prepare a systematic power network expansion plan to avoid delays in providing grid connectivity to power plants. While steps seem to have been taken, and transmission planning is gaining momentum, it remains to be seen how quickly upcoming projects secure grid connectivity.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 14:14:34 +0000
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