Felipe is the Research Superintendent at the Center for Energy Studies at Getulio Vargas Foundation and Ph.D. candidate in computer science at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. He has 20 years of experience in operations management; automation and continuous process improvement; and modeling. His research interests include energy economics, modeling of hydrothermal systems, and learning curve and technological insertion for renewables. He holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering.
Question: In addition to your role as Research Superintendent at Getulio Vargas Foundation, you are currently pursuing your doctorate in computer science at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Could you please share more about your specific research focus and interests?
Felipe: My research is focused on demand response mechanisms in the electricity market. Modeling aggregator decisions considering a portfolio of renewable sources and load reduction in a capacity market scenario in Brazil.
Q: Please describe the pilot project for the application of CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) Fresnel Technology.
Felipe: Petrobras is leading this pilot project, which includes a pilot power plant. The project is funded by the R&D fund obligation regulated by the Electricity Regulatory Agency ANEEL.
Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), is a Brazilian higher education institution and think tank with a mission to stimulate Brazil’s socio-economic development, is also participating in this project to investigate gaps and opportunities to Fresnel technology nationalization Brazil. First, finding out how the Brazilian industry could change processes and make investments to provide CSP parts. Then, the project investigates the economic and regulatory aspects to propose public policies regarding incentivizing this source development in Brazil.
Q: Please describe the pilot project for the application CSP Parabolic Cylinder Technology.
Felipe: Neoenergia is leading this pilot project. The project is funded by the R&D fund and regulated by the Electricity Regulatory Agency ANEEL.
FGV is involved in this project as well and will report their findings to Parabolic Cylinder technology nationalization Brazil. FGV will investigate how the Brazilian industry could improve its process and investments to provide CSP parts. Additionally, FGV will take a look at the economic and regulatory aspects to propose public policies to improve incentives for source development in Brazil.
Q: Your current renewable energy projects explore regulatory bottlenecks for wind power expansion, solar distributed generation and energy efficiency and storage in Brazil. What are these bottlenecks and what is the best path forward?
Felipe: The main bottlenecks are related to regulatory issues, market design and green funding development. Brazil is in an ongoing process of regulatory body revision regarding structural changes in the power sector, including incentive policy revision and the introduction of hourly price, capacity market and other market frameworks, which can facilitate the introduction of storage and energy efficiency. Solar distributed generation Brazil has a political discussion that includes the issue of distributors sustainability versus the net metering policy, that so far doesn´t present the right economic signal to the customers.
Q: Finally, how can Brazil lead in the path to 100 percent renewables?
Felipe: Brazil has an important history of developing renewable energies. In recent years, several incentives have been applied to low or zero-carbon sources to encourage the establishment of an industry of renewables components and services in Brazil. However, public policy did not come with a plan for continuous measurement, review and improvement, which can bring risks for the industry sustainability.
The path to 100% renewable energy in Brazil is to face the process of reviewing the market design (pending at the congress level) implementing frameworks that allow the correct risk allocation and providing the right economic signal to the agents and consumers as well.