Brazil’s Renewable Energy Faces Crippling Curtailment Challenges

Curtailment has become a very relevant issue in Brazil as renewable penetration grows. In short, curtailment is the forced reduction of renewable generation, which typically occurs when there is too much intermittent generation on the grid and insufficient transmission infrastructure. Operators are then required to shut down units to balance the system. The main drivers are transmission bottlenecks, operational restrictions related to grid stability and reliability and localized oversupply. We can split these into two major categories: infrastructure and demand. As of this year, non-hydro renewables already make up about one-third of Brazil's power matrix, and curtailment has increased to…