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» Small Hydroelectric Plant (SHP)
Hydroelectric plants account for most of the electricity generated for the National Interconnected System. These plants also provide the least expensive power in Brazil.
Produced in smaller scale, the other renewable sources have higher price tags. However, with the ongoing development of generation technologies, this cost tends to fall. In Brazil, the energy produced by Small Hydroelectric Plants (SHPs) is already competitive with that generated in thermoelectric plants.
According to ANEEL Resolution No. 652, hydroelectric power plants generating between 1 MW and 30 MW of power and covering an area equal or inferior to 3 square kilometers, are called SHPs (small hydroelectric plants) and they represent traditional renewable energy generation. This type of project allows small urban center, rural region, and industrial unit needs to be better attended to, and with lower rates of environmental impact.
Petrobras is currently evaluating participating in projects to deploy SHPs in Brazil, and researching new technologies to use hydric energy.
The Program to Encourage Alternate Electric Power Sources (known as PROINFA) foresees the installation, by 2008, of a capacity of 3,300 MW, which will be incorporated to the National Integrated Electric System (NIS). Of this total, 1,423 MW will derive from eolian sources, 1,192 MW from SHPs, and 685 MW will come from biomass projects. The forecast is that by 2022, these three technologies will account for 10% of the Brazilian energy generation capacity.
In its strategic plan, Petrobras has established the goal of reaching 240 MW of electric power generation capacity using renewable sources by 2011.
Hydric energy is the main resource for electric energy generation in Brazil. Due to this, the Government has encouraged, via legal and regulatory mechanisms, Small Hydroelectric Plant (SHP) construction.
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