The Use of Smart Grids to Increase the Resilience of Brazilian Power Sector to Climate Change Effects

Climate change has been a much-commented subject in the last years. The energy sector is a major responsible for this event and one of the most affected by it. Increasing the participation of renewable is a way to mitigate these effects. However, a system with large share of renewables (like Brazil) is more vulnerable to climate phenomena. This article analyzes the implementation of smart grids as a strategy to mitigate and adapt the electricity sector to climate change. Different climate and energy sector scenarios were simulated using a bottom-up approach with an accounting model. The results show that smart grids can help save energy, increase network resilience to natural hazards and reduce operational, maintenance costs and investments in new utilities. It would also allow tariffs diminution because of generation and losses costs reductions.

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