The Importance of Microgrids & Renewable Energy in Meeting Energy Needs of the Brazilian Amazon (original) (raw)
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Rural electrification in Brazil based on microgrids
2019
In a context of swift economic development in Brazil, the electrification of rural areas is becoming an important matter for the Government. Expanding the grid in remote areas is often expensive due to long distances from the main grid, deriving in poor quality of supply. The purpose of this paper is presenting a techno-economical study of unconventional electrification solutions for rural areas in Brazil. It analyzes the viability of deploying these solutions versus traditional ones and individual supply solutions (solar panels with batteries). The term unconventional refers to isolated small-scale electricity supply systems, acknowledged as microgrids. It concludes that microgrids are more cost efficient than traditional electrification strategies and individual systems. Savings are higher when the distance from the microgrid to the village is low and the voltage level is high. Additionally, it embodies important social benefits for communities and enables providing public lightin...
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2015
From 1999 to 2013, in a 14 years' period of time, rural electrification programs brought access to electricity to 16 million rural inhabitants in Brazil. Approximately 155,000 rural households remain without access to electricity in the Amazon Region, conforming very isolated communities that cannot be supplied by the expansion of the existing grid. To supply electricity to these communities, off-grid generation through diesel fuel has traditionally been the only option considered. The Amazon Region has a huge potential in renewable energy, specially: hydraulic, biomass and biofuels, solar as well as wind in the coast. The Brazilian Government has started to consider the use of these local renewable sources for the electrification of isolated communities. Several experimental projects have been deployed, supplying electrical power through appropriated off-grid renewable energy technologies: run-ofthe-river and hydrokynetic, biomass (direct burning or gasification), biofuels and vegetable oils, and hybrid (solar-wind-diesel). Regarding these technologies, the most significant projects conducted in the region were evaluated. Analyzing the costs, technical and social issues as well as the performance of these systems, after a 10 year's evaluation period, this paper shows that some renewable energy technologies have proven to be a more convenient and economic option than electricity generation through diesel, in these isolated communities.
Integration of Renewable Energy Sources to Operate in Microgrids in Rural Zones in Brazil
Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 2019
In a world where technology is even more essential, quality and reliability of electrical system are fundamental. In Brazil, country where most of the energy is produced thought power plants, the existing distribution network is overwhelmed and the needs for the consolidation of distributed generation is growing. Wind and Solar power generation from biomass and another renewable sources are one alternative to power plants, which requires large areas and massive investment. The renewable energy sources mentioned may be assembled in a way to generate reliable energy to properties far from the cities, such as rural zones, where often energy from power plants doesn't gets to. Distributed generation allows quick development of Brazilian farming and guarantees to the farmer independence from the energy dealerships. Microgrids assembled with renewable sources are one sustainable option and benefits Brazilian economy and society.
Sustainability, 2020
This work presents a detailed comparative analysis of dispersed versus centralized Alternating Current (AC)-coupling topologies and AC-coupling versus Direct Current (DC)-coupling topologies in autonomous Photovoltaic (PV)-diesel-battery microgrids for remote/isolated communities in the Brazilian Amazon region. The comparison concerned the power losses occurring in power conversion devices and in a low-voltage distribution network by using the balance-of-system (BOS) efficiency as a performance index. The analyses were performed by an analytical approach and by detailed computer simulations in MATLAB/Simulink software. Based on the matching factor (MF), the gain obtained in BOS efficiency is 1.5% for low values of the MF, and for high values of the MF, the centralized topology has the same BOS efficiency as the dispersed topology. In conclusion, this factor proved to be useful as a design parameter for selecting the optimal topology of a PV-diesel-battery microgrid.
Rural Electrification in Central America and East Africa, two case studies of sustainable microgrids
Revista iberoamericana de estudios de desarrollo = Iberoamerican journal of development studies, 2018
This paper deals with the electrification of rural villages in developing countries using Sustainable Energy Systems. The rural electrification feasibility study is done using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable PRO (HOMER PRO). The HOMER PRO energy modelling software is an optimization software improved by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It helps in designing, comparing and optimizing the design of power generation technologies. In this paper, two rural electrification case studies are modelled and analysed using HOMER PRO. Technical and economic evaluation criteria are applied to study the feasibility of a micro-hydro plant in El Díptamo (Honduras), and a hybrid plant composed of photovoltaic module arrays, Diesel generators, and flow batteries, in a small island on Victoria Lake. For both cases, we show the results of the studies of the daily and yearly loads, of the resources available in the area and the economic evaluation of the chosen plants configuration.
A proposal of electrical power supply to Brazilian Amazon remote communities
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This paper focuses on supplying electrical power for remote communities of the Brazilian Amazon using regional biomass, specifically palm oil biomass, as a primary energy source. The use of Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) as fuel, is indicated for isolated communities, where the hydro plants or the installation of transmissions line are impracticable. The use of vegetable oils produced in the communities, is a solution when an adequate infrastructure to extracting the oil is available. Brazil is able to use an enormous diversity of vegetable oils, due to a great variety of plants, and the favorable climatic conditions. Technical, economic, environmental and social aspects are analyzed in order to provide a basis for electrical power supply viability in these communities. A case study is presented focused on a typical Brazilian Amazon community located in the State of Pará in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed viability strategy.
Microgrid Operational in a remote village of Abricots in Haiti
Proceedings IX Simpósio Brasileiro de Sistemas Elétricos
As we approach 2030, Haiti is among the countries where access to electricity is difficult, with less than 45.4% electrical coverage (2019); According to a report by "The Spectator Index" published in January 2018 regarding the least electrified countries in the world. A present, Haiti is the third among the worst in the world (in 2017), after Nigeria (2nd) and Yemen (1st). The problem of lack of access to electrical energy is a major obstacle to the economic and social growth of the country. Diagnostics on the Haitian electrical system prove that the production costs of electrical energy are very high and the commercial losses are enormous, even deficit. This article reviews the literature and proposes the use of an off-grid microgrid based on solar energy to supply 271 households in the village of Abricots, a community clearly isolated from the rest of the country, in order to facilitate sustainable access to electricity for this marginalized population of Haiti. This study allows us to understand the feasibility aspects of the project, to size the components of the microgrid, in order to coordinate the supply and demand of energy, while optimizing the operational cost.
Engenharia Elétrica: Desenvolvimento e Inovação Tecnológica, 2021
Microgrid is a technically and economically viable opportunity to meet the demands of populations that, for various reasons, do not have access to electricity. The complexity of Smart Grid (SG) systems requires considerable engineering effort in the design process. Designing this type of complex system requires new approaches, methods, concepts and engineering tools. Where, requirements analysis plays a major role in better characterizing, understanding and specifying the domain of application that SG systems should solve. This work presents a systemic proposal based specifically on System Systems (SoS) which anticipates the formalization of requirements, aiming to understand, analyze and design SG within the scope of Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). The definition of a microgrid from the SoS perspective is presented in order to provide a complete view of its life cycle. Requirements would be represented in an Objective Oriented Requirements Engineering (GORE) approach, specifically using visual diagrams based on the Keep All Objectives Satisfied (KAOS) method, where network operation and control will be formally represented. A case study for small communities in the equatorial Amazon forest is used as a case study for the proposed method. Resumo: As microgrid surgem como uma oportunidade técnica e economicamente viável de atender a demanda das populações que, por diversos motivos, não têm acessoà energia elétrica. A complexidade de sistemas Smart Grid (SG), exigem um esforço considerável de engenharia no processo de design. Para realizar o Design deste tipo de sistemas complexos, são necessárias novas abordagens, métodos, conceitos e ferramentas de engenharia. Onde, a análise de requisitos tem um papel preponderante para melhor caracterizar, entender e especificar o domínio de aplicação e o problema que os sistemas SG devem resolver. Neste trabalho apresenta-se uma proposta sistêmica baseada especificamente em Sistema de Sistemas (SoS) que antecipa a formalização dos requisitos, visando entender, analisar e projetar SG dentro do escopo de Engenharia de Sistemas Baseados em Modelos (MBSE). Apresenta-se a definição de uma microgrid na perspectiva de SoS no intuito de fornecer uma visão completa do seu ciclo de vida. Os requisitos seriam representados em uma abordagem de Engenharia de Requisitos Orientada a Objetivos (GORE), especificamente usando diagramas visuais com base no método Keep All Objectives Satisfied (KAOS), onde a operação e o controle da rede serão formalmente representados. Um estudo de caso para pequenas comunidades na floresta equatorial da Amazôniaé usado como estudo de caso para o método proposto.