Day 4

Day four and we get a perfect day of weather for our tour of Floripa. We met in the morning for a quick breakfast then took off for the city center, where the oldest part of the city is located and now is home to a large market and the governor’s mansion. Next we found potentially the best view of the day at the highest point on the island. We took some great pictures overlooking the city and then continued our tour with a trip to the beach. Although we are in the heart of winter, the beach is every bit as great as you would expect. The water was warm enough to get in, and the beach is very smooth. There were essentially no shells and the slope is as gradual as I’ve ever seen. We were actually able to see multiple beaches throughout the course of the afternoon, making our way to another portion of the island for lunch. We found a small cove after a really cool walk across the canal connecting the ocean to one of the island’s lakes. Other things we saw were sandboarding in Joaquina on the side of a large dune and a few local shops with Brazilian artwork.

 Potentially the coolest part of the tour of the island was our man Rodrigo’s ability to point out from each stop the other portions of the island that we had visited. After a few days we may have finally put together an idea of how Floripa was laid out.

After a long day of sightseeing we returned to the hotel around dinner time. We had plenty more to do before the end of the evening however. Stopping by the local university downtown, which happened to be the ISA office of Floripa as well, we attended a lecture by REGSA. REGSA gave us an overview of the Brazilian renewable energy portfolio and discussed today’s largest challenges as well as the primary projects being developed. Brasil has a very impressive 50% of its vehicles capable of running on either biodiesel or traditional petroleum. Additionally we discussed how devastating the current drought has been for Brasil and Sao Paulo specifically. The rationing of water is starting way too late and the lack of reservoir depth means blackouts are likely without rain. To account for the growing electricity demand around the country, hydro plants in the Amazon are likely the next undertaking. The high flow, low head plants required for the region will be a new challenge for Brasil, but the potential is too great to pass up. 

Day 3

Welcome to day three in Brazil where we are headed to Ventos do Sul. Ventos do Sul is one of the wind farms of Enerfin, a wind power utility owned by Elecnor. With sites in Brazil, Canada, and Spain, Enerfin has constructed over 2 GW of turbines and are continually growing. In Brazil specifically, the potential for additional wind is high, as many rural areas remain untapped. As a result, the development of offshore wind is likely to be many years away.

The turbines we were able to see up close are 2.3 MW direct drive units from Enercon. Blade diameters ranged from 72 meters to 90 meters and hub heights from 80 meters to 108 meters. The direct drive units use a generator that operates at the same rotational speed as the turbine rather than using a gearbox to increase rpm and use a smaller generator. The consequence is that the direct drive units are much quieter and enjoyable to stand near.

Just as exciting was our trip to the control room for Ventos do Sul. In contrast to Tractabel, there was a very modern digital control system. The continuous monitoring of wind speed, direction, power output, and rotor speed were extremely intuitive and gave the operator an opportunity to monitor the plant performance from anywhere remotely.

Following our visit, we had a great Brazilian lunch with service to the table of a wide assortment of meats and a new favorite dish – cinnamon sugared pineapples. A long drive back to Floripa meant a great portion of day three was spent sleeping, but we had a great visit and looked forward to getting back to our first home.

Day 2

After our first night at FLOPH, where I'm rooming with my man Aryel, we kicked off the day with a surprisingly traditional american breakfast. We couldn't stay long though, and took off for Capivari de Baixo to visit Tractebel Energia. The bus rides are sure to be plenty of entertainment and I hope to have some quality pictures of everyone sleeping soon. Once we arrived at Tractabel our guide Pablo gave an overview of the company in the form of two videos. Owned by GDF Suez, they are a subset of one of the world's largest utility companies. We learned that similar to Brazil, Tractabel generates over 80% of its electricity via hydroelectric plants, and makes up roughly 7% of all Brazilian generation. The notable point I took from our discussion is the very likely growth of fossil fuel based generation in Brazil to create stable and reliable baseload generation independent of weather conditions. The current drought in Brazil has created dangerously low water levels and without rain in the near future, blackouts are likely.

If we look at the issue from a positive lens, a point worth noting is that Brazil has a national grid, meaning generation anywhere in country is fully capable of powering Sao Paulo and Rio. Additionally, the generation growth needed to maintain Tractabel's 7% share of the national generation is 66% by 2020. This means heavy support by the utility industry in Brazil's manufacturing industry and plenty of job opportunities. Tractabel, like each utility in Brazil, has to maintain certain standards set by ISO. Current standards mandate quality, environmental impact, and personal safety minimums and maximums, with plans to implement an energy efficiency standard.

After the lecture, the group was able to see a model of one of the units at the site, as well as an overview of the entire plant site. In Capivari de Baixo the site generates 857 MW which is capable of supporting 2 million people. Seeing a model of the turbine, generator, steam condensate storage tank, and all of the required pumps provided a great understanding of the loop used in generation. After the model we were able to see the control room for the plant with a detailed explanation of the closed loop used for boiling steam. For reliability the initial analog controls are all still used, but the system is very impressive visually. The turbine typically operates at roughly 3600 rpm, but one unit was actually out of service and we had the opportunity to view the generator rotor from a distance.

We learned that the coal used locally is very dirty relative to the quality of U.S. plants. As a result a great deal of ash is produced. One of Tractabel's projects is the construction of a community center on what used to be the ash field. A picture below shows one of the portraits I liked best in a small art gallery we had a chance to view.

After our long day at Tractabel we took the bus back to Tramandaí for dinner and a night just hanging out with new friends. 

Brazil Day 1 Update

Hey Everyone,

We have made it to Brazil and there is already so much to tell you about. I had yet to meet anyone in the class before arriving in country, so it was great to fly in with Elijah and meet up with Cory at the airport. Elijah and I just happened to be seated next to each other so we had a chance to get to know each other after working in the same group all Summer for classwork. Our man Daniel with ISA tracked us down and got us on board the shuttle to the hotel. Our first glimpses of Brazil came from a drive to FLOPH (our hotel) where we quickly saw favelas and plenty of coastline. An orientation session that evening with ISA leaders Rodrigo and Ihor allowed everyone to get a feel for the next two weeks of life in Brazil and allowed me to make initial introductions with my new classmates. We closed out the evening of a long first day with dinner nearby the hotel. Filet mignon was a sufficient way to kick off two weeks of Brazilian cuisine.

Thanks for reading and be on the lookout for another blog update tomorrow,
Nick