Prof. Bo Nørregaard Jørgensen invited for Brazilien Smart Grid Workshop
In the week of 20th October to 24th October 2014 Head of Centre Professor Bo Nørregaard Jørgensen visited Sao Paulo and Brazilia in Brazil to participate in a three day government organized workshop on Smart Grid. During his stay Bo Nørregaard Jørgensen also visited two Brazilien Universities with focus on Smart Grid research.
Bo Nørregaard Jørgensen was one of two Danish University representatives also including DTU invited by Innovation Centre Denmark in Sao Paulo to participate in this workshop. The visit to Brazil was planed ahead of a Brazilien delegation of decision makers in the Brazilien energy sector visiting Denmark in November to get to know the Danish Smart Grid model.
Today, a smart grid solution is a burning platform for the Brazilian power system, as high operation costs challenge the electrical energy utilities and the economy as a whole. Owing to a serious period of draught, the country, the size of Europe and a population surpassing 200m, currently faces a critical period, as dependency of hydro power is very high (currently 77 % of total electrical energy generation). New alternative sources of energy generation such as solar power and wind energy are on demand, and smart grid solutions will be key in the future energy supplies in Brazil. As a consequence, the National Agency of Electrical Energy in Brazil now requires by law that utilities invest in innovation projects, including smart grid solutions. Moreover, the government is working on an implementation strategy related to smart grid and is on the outlook for strategic partners, both on national, institutional and company level.
Considered a leading country in alternative energy solutions and smart grid management, Denmark has caught the attention of the Brazilian decision makers and organisors, and ICDK have succeeded in getting Denmark included as one of only 15 countries to participate in the above mentioned workshop and influence the current Brazilian mapping of smart grid models and future policy development deployed by the Brazilian government.
During his visit in Brazil Bo Nørregaard Jørgensen also visited two Universities, UNICAMP – State University of Campinas and USP – University of São Paulo. At UNICAMP among others he participated in a Smart Grid Event and a mini course on GridLab-D an event that gathered around 30 students from BA, MA and PhD plus representatives from CPqD and CPFL (electricity utility from São Paulo). At USP he visited Centre of Study of Energy Regulation and Quality who are currently in the process of developing a Smart Grid Lab.