A look to the future of the electric sector

Abstract

The electric sector, as we know it today, had its origins more than one hundred years ago, when engineering developments in electric power plants were motivated by the principle of economies of scale, in which bigger meant cheaper. As the generating capacity of power plants grew bigger, the opportunity of carrying additional energy to farther away centers was envisioned. And so, large transmission and sub-transmission networks were born. As the cost of the fossil fuel increases, problems related to transmission energy losses become important, and the urgent environmental problem caused mainly by the big generation plants that burn fossil fuel is recognized. Thus, the ldquobigger is betterrdquo paradigm begins to show its weakness. At the other end of the scale, alternatives for electricity generation appear in the horizon, where the tendency is towards small devices, capable of taking small electrical loads, whose economy resides in the processes for their massive production. Such devices are designed to produce electricity at the consumption point, by means of local sources of energy. Solar and wind energy, small waterfalls, water currents, different forms of biomass, as well as different forms of energy in the oceans, are making inroads into the electrical systems, both as autonomous installations in remote sites and as grid-connected facilities. New paradigms, such as sustainable development, energy security and environmental protection, are emerging and will strongly influence the nature and structure of the electric systems in the decades to come. Similarly, technological change, occurring both on the electricity supply and the demand sides, will establish proper conditions for the evolution towards new forms of the future electric business. The scientific and technical basis for the evolution of the electrical sector are found in the field of new materials, the availability of microprocessors, modern electronic and control devises, as well as powerful calculation tools for analysis, design and engineering, of the generation equipment and of the supply systems. This and other related ideas will be the subject of this conference.