🌅 Testing Brazil’s grid limits

In partnership with

Good morning! Rio de Janeiro recorded a temperature of 44^oC (111^oF) yesterday, the highest since records began in 2014. Heat waves are expected to sweep across much of the country this week, from the South to the Northeast. Meanwhile, Brazil’s National Meteorology Institute has issued severe storm warnings for 18 of the country’s 27 states. 

Grid operator points out long-term solar surplus risk

Solar power generation has gone through the roof in Brazil in recent years, with the operator of Brazil’s electricity grid foreseeing a near 50% supply increase in a form of solar energy production known as distributed generation over the next five years. However, the grid sees a risk of this deluge of solar power overloading substations in the medium to long term, potentially causing blackouts in scores of substations nationwide.

How it works. Distributed generation is a system by which small photovoltaic power plants (of up to 5 megawatts) generate electricity near or at the point of consumption — for example, at a company’s headquarters or in someone’s home.

Solar surplus. Consumers who opt for distributed generation receive discounts on their electricity bills, and, when the energy they generate outweighs consumption, that surplus is sent to the national grid in a process called reverse power flow.

Want to keep reading?