"Brazil is working to modernize the electric sector, recognizing that we need to adopt the best available technologies, without giving up competitiveness". The words are from the assistant secretary of Energy Planning and Development (SPE), from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), Helvio Neves Guerra (photo), when he opened, on 10/06, the webinar "ETP Special Report on Clean Energy Innovation ". The event, which had as its main theme, the role of innovation in the clean energy transition in Brazil, had simultaneous translation, and is the result of a partnership between MME, the Energy Research Company (EPE) and the International Energy Agency (IEA ).

In his speech, Helvio Guerra stated that Brazil is following its own path towards its energy transition, especially because it has always favored renewable sources. “First, with the use of the immense hydraulic potential available in our country. It can be said that the energy transition and hydroelectric power plants are part of our history and the generation of electricity in Brazil, ”said the secretary. “Hydroelectric plants - he added - were and continue to be the main factor for our electrical matrix to be among the cleanest on the planet. Currently, 63% of our electricity comes from this source. And it will continue like this ”.

Sustainable energy generation 

“Our sectorial planning, which is materialized through the Ten-Year Expansion Plan (PDE) and the National Energy Plan (PNE) - he highlighted -, shows that the participation of hydroelectric and other renewables will continue to grow”.

According to the secretary, PDE 2029 points out that, in ten years, more than 80% of the electricity generated in Brazil will come from renewables. And that in addition to hydroelectric plants, there is also the participation of wind farms with more than 16%, photovoltaics with more than 8% and biomass, with more than 10%.

“Our reality, of a country with a high percentage of renewable energy in its matrix, imposes a great responsibility on us: to keep the Brazil of the future at the same level. Maintain the same level of energy generation in a sustainable manner. And here I refer to sustainability in its broadest sense, where generating clean energy is not enough. We have to use energy sustainably. This requires a change in the behavior of consumers themselves. It is also important that all governments continue to support the development of technology and innovation, as the current Brazilian government has been under the leadership of Minister Bento Albuquerque, ”said Guerra.

PNE 2050 and innovation 

He also spoke about longer-term planning, such as the PNE 2050, which presents a strategic vision of the sector over the next 30 years, indicating the trends of the various energy alternatives. "The PNE can be considered as the design of a strategy and as the mapping of the challenges that we see ahead of us to meet sectoral demands and always keeping national development in mind", said the secretary.

Helvio Guerra said that "innovation plays a major role in bringing more efficiency, reducing costs and increasing productivity", and that "it must serve the integration of clean sources such as wind and photovoltaic solar". “Artificial intelligence, for example, can contribute to obtain more efficiency from these sources, since they are non-dispatchable sources. Brazil is aware of this and is working to modernize the electric sector, recognizing that we need to adopt the best available technologies, without giving up competitiveness ”, he concluded.

The webinar was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), the IEA, the president of EPE, Thiago Barral and specialists from the public and private sectors. Among the panelists, the head of the MME Regulatory Consulting office, Agnes da Costa, the director of the Structural Technologies Department at MCTI, Eduardo Soriano, Raphaella Gomes, Raízen's head of Biomass and Renewables, Renato Povia, Director of Strategy and Innovation from the CPFL Energia group, and Simon Bennett, from the Investment and Perspectives Division of the IEA.