The state of Minas Gerais is home
to some of Brazil’s most ideal locations for solar power generation. With
USTDA’s assistance, the state turned to Vrinda, a New York-based small
business, to ensure that reliable power is continually delivered to more than
18 million people in this economically dynamic region.
As the number of utility-scale and
rooftop installations accelerated in Minas Gerais, the state’s reliable electricity
distribution network started experiencing an array of technical challenges. Cemig
D, the state’s distribution company, sought USTDA’s assistance and evaluation
of technologies to integrate these new installations into its network and address
systemic issues of power intermittency and reliability. Cemig D selected Vrinda, an international strategy implementation firm, to execute
the USTDA-funded assistance.
Vrinda Co-Founder and COO Navneet
Trivedi emphasizes that without USTDA’s support, it was not possible for a
small business like his to explore and expand in Latin America. “USTDA gave us
our first overseas opportunity, which is very important for any business, but
foundational for Vrinda. This opportunity and constant support by USTDA through
introductions to utilities and Brazilian businesses opened multiple doors.
Today we have two direct contracts with the largest Brazilian utilities helping
them from strategy to implementation and have established ourselves as a
trusted partner to many Brazilian utilities and professionals.”
Vrinda assessed Cemig’s D network
infrastructure and requirements based on the projected growth in its total
installed capacity of solar power, which jumped from approximately 20 megawatts
(MW) in early 2017 to approximately 500MW in early 2020. By 2027, Vrinda estimated
that this number is likely to climb to 1,000MW in a base case scenario and up
to 2,000MW in a high case scenario.
To address the challenges
associated with this growth, Vrinda recommended a series of new investments including
a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) and an Advanced
Distribution Analytics (ADA) software system. Implementing this new technology will
ensure continued compliance with national regulatory requirements for
interconnections and reliability indices.
Following the completion of USTDA’s
assistance, Cemig D contracted with Vrinda to design and implement the DERMS
system. In January 2020, Vrinda introduced Cemig D to several U.S. utilities in California, Colorado and New
York to observe ADA and DERMS systems and develop new relationships with American
suppliers of these innovative technologies. After this visit, Cemig D began developing
technical specifications for the ADA software in collaboration with expert U.S.
providers.
USTDA Acting Director Thomas Hardy
sums up the project this way: “This innovative collaboration between USTDA and Brazil
achieved each of our objectives: We created a new overseas opportunity for a
U.S. small business and ultimately enhanced the country’s management of new
energy sources. In every way, we believe this is a successful partnership that
is built to last.”