“This project anticipates important changes through which the energy market will go. It is already noticeable that the relationship between energy distributors and customers is changing. Society’s demands for the use of renewable sources are ever bigger and, because of that, our group’s companies are putting themselves at the forefront of this process”
Smart trailblazing
The pilot project will benefit around 300 homes in the town of Eusébio, 27km from Fortaleza. The internal electrical infrastructure of the condominium will be transformed into an automatic microgrid capable of working whether or not it is connected to the distributor’s electrical grid.
“The volume of energy that isn’t instantly consumed is stored in high-tech batteries and can be sent to the Enel Distribuição Ceará grid, generating credits on the residents’ energy bills”
The initial stage of the project has already been concluded. Enel X has installed 96 photovoltaic panels in the residences and commons areas of the development. In its first month of activity, the system resulted in a 30% drop in the housing project’s electricity bill. As well as the financial benefits the clean energy will prevent about five tones of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere every year. The next phase will include the modernisation of meters, the installation of an energy storage system and of a fibre optic communication network.
The Smart Microgrid Project relies on financing from ANEEL’s Research and Development programme. In Brazil there are few instances of hybrid systems (with photovoltaic generation, diesel and batteries) operating as isolated projects in the Northern region of the country and in some maritime islands. The existing systems have simpler technology and are not connected to the electrical grid.
