The Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency visited INESC TEC

In November, INESC TEC welcomed Sandoval Feitosa, director of the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL). It was an opportunity to present the research carried out by INESC TEC in the area of energy, and to understand Sandoval Feitosa’s outlook on the Brazilian energy market.

As part of his visit, the director of ANEEL visited several INESC TEC laboratories: the Laboratory of Smart Grids and Electric Vehicles, at INESC TEC’s main building, as well as the laboratories dedicated to Photonics/Optoelectronics – part of INESC TEC’s Centre at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto – and to Robotics, at Porto School of Engineering. –

The Director of ANEEL also had the chance to show the impact of the pandemic on the Brazilian energy system. In his presentation, Sandoval Feitosa highlighted some aspects related to energy consumption in Brazil, namely the fact that the country has 85 million electricity consumers nowadays, and more than one million new consumers per year.

The guest also demonstrated the impact of COVID-19 on Brazil’s energy system, by showing how the country went through a water crisis – aggravated in October 2020, with the Paraná River Basin influenced by the worst wet season in the last 91 years. This issue aggravated the difficulties in energy production, which led to the organisation of campaigns to reduce the consumption of electricity.

The importance of the Brazilian regulatory body in terms of attracting investment was also discussed. Sandoval Feitosa stated that, as a regulator, ANEEL was able to attract “more than a trillion reais in investment” – corresponding to 158 billion euros – to support Brazil’s energy production, transmission, and distribution.

This visit follows on the ongoing R&D activities carried out by Portugal and Brazil in the energy field, and the work developed by INESC TEC and a group of Brazilian universities, mediated by INESC P&D Brasil, where several projects stand out – as well as Portugal’s crucial contribution in terms of added value and the internationalisation of results, with significant benefits to Brazilian science and industry. More recent examples include the TECCON II project – which focused on the installation of an intelligent isolator on a 230kV power line in São Paulo, in order to monitor some of the line’s operating parameters in real time – and an additional study for ONS (National Operator of the Electric System).

While the second activity – advanced consultancy – corresponds to the application of scientific and technical knowledge to innovate concepts in control centres, the first is close to becoming a product of industrial dissemination, thus showing how INESC TEC’s international cooperation ensures the transfer of advanced technology to the Brazilian capital goods industry – showing, particularly among the Brazilian community and ANEEL, that international cooperation is more than co-authoring articles.

Sandoval Feitosa has been working at ANEEL for 17 years. In the past, he collaborated with Companhia de Energia do Maranhão, an energy distribution company, as well as with Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco – Chesf.

The presentation by Sandoval Feitosa is available on INESC TEC ‘s YouTube channel.

The INESC TEC researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with UP-FEUP.