Brazil’s Energy Ministry talks minimum storage requirements for new distributed generation

Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) is moving toward mandatory battery storage inclusion and thresholds for new distributed generation (DG) connections in a regulatory shift that would fundamentally change how solar and other renewables enter the grid.

Speaking before the Chamber of Deputies’ Committee on Mines and Energy, Minister Alexandre Silveira said the ministry is conducting technical studies to determine the right requirement.

“We are doing deep technical studies to find out what the ideal percentage is to stabilize the system — whether it’s 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30% of battery storage, for both mini and micro generation as well as larger DG installations. If we don’t, we will collapse the system.”

The driver is grid visibility. “Today, the ONS [Brazil’s national grid operator] cannot read what is entering the system from mini and micro DG, this causes instability,” Silveira said. The policy response is two-track: “We will address this first with a BESS tender, and I hope we follow that with regulation requiring a battery percentage for all renewable energy entering the system.”

Silveira also drew a hard line on curtailment compensation, distinguishing between grid or transmission constraints, which he supports compensating, and demand-driven curtailment, which he does not. “The energy question cannot be a risk borne by the consumer. The consumer cannot pay for an investment someone made hoping to sell energy that had no demand — that is not the State’s responsibility.

“No one wants to prevent solar energy production, but we cannot put the system at risk through excessive production or increase the price of energy. As renewable energy grows, so does the need for power. And then the price of energy increases, a fundamental input for national development, for industry, for commerce, for residences,” he added.

On the tender, Silveira confirmed that a ministerial directive setting out the framework for Brazil’s first utility-scale battery auction is expected in April, with the auction to be held before year-end.

The minister also traveled to China ahead of the process to meet with major battery manufacturers, with Brazil’s domestic content requirements still under discussion; a portion of the auction is expected to serve local manufacturing, though the ministry is addressing scope.

From pv magazine Brazil.