Energy: where are we going?

Energy: where are we going?

The energy crisis we are going through in Brazil, is being characterized by our official leaders as "episodic". In this line, when the rains return, everything will naturally return to normal.

On the other hand, great emphasis is being given to increasing the share of solar and wind energy in our energy matrix. I would like to point out a worrying aspect that would need consideration. These sources are intermittent in everyday life.

That is, investments in "conventional" generation, transmission and distribution cannot and should not be reduced because on days with low or no sunlight or wind, there is no energy production and the "system" needs to take over.

This means that investing in solar and wind does not reduce the investments that would be needed with or without them.

To exemplify. The utility needs to have the same infrastructure - with or without customers who have solar panels on their roofs. And so what happens in practice is that the concessionaire has a reduction in its customers' solar energy billings, but it needs to have the infrastructure as if it did not exist.This not to mention the "duck curve" challenges.

Real-life practical result. The additional cost of concessionaires is transferred by the regulatory agency to tariffs.

We are moving towards a systemic increase in costs and tariffs. Water crisis and solar/wind crisis.