HYBRID POWER PLANT IN BRAZIL COMBINES SOLAR, GRID & DIESEL POWER

EIF and Minas Energia have jointly designed an innovative solution to guarantee the energy supply for the company Ciacarne located in eastern Brazil. Due to the instability of the local grid supply, the company had to operate with several generators throughout the production period. The hybrid solution proposed by DEIF saves fuel and reduces emissions; factors that were relevant for Minas Energia’s decision-making. Partner Minas Energia describes DEIF'S hybrid solution as “indispensable” in saving 100,000 litres of diesel per month for Brazilian F&B company

When Brazilian meat processing company Ciacarne took up pork production in 1972, the company had high ambitions: Not only would it offer high-quality products; it would do so with the lowest possible environmental impact. Through initiatives such as water treatment and biogas generation, the company’s facility at São Joaquim in eastern Brazil has come a long way towards independence of external energy sources – but until 2022, ensuring reliable electricity was still a problem.

   Ciacarne decided to solve the problem by expanding its onsite plant to a truly hybrid power solution with photovoltaic panels. The target was to achieve the lowest possible cost of energy while ensuring reliability at São Joaquim – and to reduce emissions. Ciacarne reached out to local electrical engineering company Minas Energia for a reliable solution.

Today the upgraded hybrid power plant combines solar, grid, and diesel power. It now boasts 5,000 Risen Energy PV modules with a combined output of 3 MWp and with 20 WEG inverters producing 2 MW. This PV plant is controlled using a DEIF ASC-4 Solar controller which interfaces with AGC 150 Generator and AGC 150 BTB controllers for the gensets and bus tie breakers and an AGC 150 Mains handling the 1.3 MW grid connection.

 In addition, DEIF delivered an AGI 421 graphical interface, panels, and assistance for installing the AGC 150s on the gensets, developing dashboards in the AGI, and carrying out start-up and commissioning of the entire plant. The upgraded hybrid system ensures stable and uninterrupted power, automatically switching sources as necessary with no operator intervention and prioritising solar power whenever possible. The generators can be run in parallel with the photovoltaic plant and the grid, for example to provide peak shaving when the load requirement is high.