Procedimento de armazenamento de energia com usinas hidrelétricas reversíveis como mecanismo sustentável para recuperação de nível de água em reservatórios de centrais hidrelétricas de regularização: estudo de caso da UHE Furnas

Abstract

Recently, Hydroelectric Plants (HPPs) have been losing competitiveness in relation to renewable sources, specifically the wind and solar photovoltaic source, due to the water crisis registered in the country, which left the main reservoirs of the Brazilian hydroelectric system depleted and with difficulties in recovering nominal levels of operation. However, these sources have some limitations, the main one of which is intermittency and, therefore, the forms of energy storage, especially the Reversible Hydroelectric Plants (RHPs), can help mitigate this intermittency, thus allowing a constant and uninterrupted. In this context, the present work proposes to study the use of an RHP, concatenated with renewable solar and / or wind sources as a mechanism for recovering the water level of the reservoir of the Furnas HPP. To this end, a pre-dimensioning of the HRP was initially carried out, opting to install a capacity of 423 MW, followed by the pre-dimensioning of the solar and wind farms, after determining the possible locations where these farms have the greatest energy potential. Energy calculations carried out showed that the energy that could be generated by the RHP daily was 1692 MWh /day, equivalent to 617.58 GWh/year. However, to store this energy quantity, it would be necessary to consume 2729 MWh /day, with a negative energy balance of 1037 MWh to be offset by the wind and / or solar park daily. With this mechanism, it would be possible to recover the level of the reservoir in the order of 0.45 meters in the year. Finally, an analysis study was carried out on the feasibility of the project for a period of 30 years, considering three different scenarios and using the methods NPV (Net Present Value) and LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity), resulting in the project not being viable in all scenarios. studied.