Itaipu shaping up to the future
Responsible for supplying over 15% of Brazil's energy consumption, the Itaipu Binacional hydroelectric plant was the only Latin American company to exhibit environmental solutions at the United Nations pavilion during the recent COP 23 conference in Germany.
Itaipu's environmental superintendent, Ariel Scheffer da Silva, spoke to BNamericas about the partnership with the UN and revealed some of the company's renewable energy projects, including a future floating solar power generation undertaking.
BNamericas: What are the main goals of the partnership with the United Nations?
Da Silva: Fostering discussions about climate change by sharing the experiences of a Latin American company in the hydroelectric power business.
BNamericas: Does the initiative call for new investments in the Itaipu hydro plant?
Da Silva: Today we invest in biogas projects by using animal dejection and promoting best agricultural practices in order to preserve the soil and the water in the region, besides the recovery of biodiversity. We are planning in 2018 to begin a pilot project involving the installation of floating solar power plants on Itaipu's reservoir – the third of its kind in Brazil.
BNamericas: How will the solar plants power be applied?
Da Silva: The electricity will be transferred to Brazil's interconnected system, bringing more power to the country's grid. We're already in talks with potential investors. This week [Nov 6-10] we've had meetings with Australians and French businessmen.
BNamericas: Brazil has experienced a severe drought, being forced to use higher levels of thermoelectric power, which is more polluting and expensive. How could Itaipu help alleviate the current situation?
Da Silva: We'll be implementing a technological upgrade at the plant that may not resolve the lack of energy availability but that will definitely contribute to the security of output. However, our greatest potential collaboration is to share our knowledge in terms of environmental projects with other companies in Brazil and worldwide. We've already done this by taking our hydrographic basins management project to Costa Rica, Haiti and Dominican Republic among other countries.
BNamericas: The Itaipu plant recently reached the milestone of 2.5bn MWh generated. When is the 5bn MWh mark expected?
Da Silva: It's still too early to say. [Chinese dam] Three Gorges is the biggest plant in the world and could beat the record more easily than us but it doesn't because power generation is not their main focus, since their priority is flood control and to enable river transportation.
BNamericas: What is Itaipu's current stake in the Brazilian and Paraguayan grids?
Da Silva: Some 17% of total energy consumption is met by the electric power produced by Itaipu, while in Paraguay it accounts for approximately 80%. We could actually supply the whole world with electric power for about two days.
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