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Land use and water management have considerable impacts on regional climates. This paper proposes that in humid regions with low wind patterns the construction of hydropower storage reservoirs contributes to the increases in the probability of precipitation in the regional climate. This observation has been tested with a methodology that calculates the cumulative influence of reservoir construction in the basins surrounding with a proposed index named Cumulative Impact of Existing Reservoirs, and compares this index with the historical flow of the rivers. It was found that the construction of reservoirs in Brazil had a considerable impact on its river flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the end of 2013 to the end of 2015, Brazil faced serious challenges to supply its demand for electricity due to a prolonged drought in the Southeast and Northeast regions with the consequent loss of hydroelectric generation. This paper presents an historical analysis of major world energy crises from 1988 to 2015 and in Brazil from 1924 to 2015. Analysing the natural river flow of key Brazilian dams from 1931 until 2017, this paper suggests that hydropower generation in Brazil has a 10–15 years cyclical pattern of hydropower generation. The periods of drought in this cyclical pattern usually coincides with energy crises due to the reduction in hydropower generation. It was found that the drought in 2015 had an impact of 110 TWh in hydropower generation, from which 25 TWh are due to head loss and 70 TWh are from lack of stored hydropower in July of 2014. In addition, 48 TWh were not generated due to delays in the construction of new power plants. Other causes of the Brazilian energy crisis of 2015 are presented and the overall electricity generation impact of these causes are compared. In addition, this paper presents the impacts on the energy, water and food supply sectors in Brazil, and the strategies employed to reduce the impact of the crises. With the intention of preventing future energy crises, the paper then shows the potential alternatives to improve electricity supply security in Brazil, particularly in terms of diversifying and widening the share of renewable sources and increasing the energy storage potential of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to maintain greater control over the country's water resources and reduce the vulnerability of the Brazilian electricity sector, this paper presents a review of the Seasonal-Pumped-Storage (SPS) potential in Brazil, its benefits and the different ways in which SPS can be integrated with hydroelectric dams in cascade downstream. In addition to increasing the Brazilian energy storage potential, SPS has the potential to: regulate river flows allowing the control of hydropower generation; reduce the spillage and increase power generation in the hydroelectric dams in cascade; turn the construction of new dams more viable where there is no suitable geology for the construction of conventional storage reservoirs; control floods when the geology does not permit the construction of storage reservoirs; decrease the evaporation of accumulation reservoirs; store the electricity generated from intermittent renewable sources; store energy for peak generation; reduce transmission bottlenecks; decrease the cost of electricity transmission from hydroelectric plants in the Amazon; decentralize the energy storage capacity in Brazil to increase energy security and to reduce the risk of electricity rationing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the lack of energy storage in the new hydropower plants in the Amazon region, Brazil will require thermoelectric power plants to generate electricity during the dry period (May–October). Biomass based electricity generation, especially eucalyptus trees, can be used to replace the expensive liquefied natural gas infrastructure required to generate electricity during the dry seasons and emergency generation during dry years in Brazil. This article presents a new electricity generation scheme called “Energy Crop Storage”. In this scheme, biomass is grown and stored in eucalyptus plantations in order to match the supply of energy to its demand. For example, during wet years in Brazil, when biomass plants operate at 50% capacity, the eucalyptus trees are allowed to continue growing. During dry years, the biomass stored is used more intensively as biomass generation raises to 90% of its capacity. It was concluded that natural gas is a high risk investment in Brazil because, if there are several consecutive wet years, the expensive infrastructure dedicated to natural gas based electricity generation will remain on standby. Biomass plantations, on the other hand, are a more reliable investment as the biomass is stored when the biomass demand is lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before the COVID pandemic, oil and gas companies invested only a small fraction of their capital on sustainable energy technologies. With the substantial improvement in the performance of batteries and their rapid cost reduction, the oil and gas industry could potentially lose a large share of their market in the transport sector. A similar shift in energy sources is happening with the surge in renewable energy sources to supply electricity, heating and cooling. In an ever more sustainable future, the need for an oil and gas industry could reduce significantly. This paper reviews the possible paths that an oil and gas company could follow to become a sustainable development corporation and continue to be relevant in the future. This paper aims to describe alternative sustainable pathways such as the extraction of natural hydrogen, a hydrogen economy, offshore wind power, deep sea mining, biorefineries, seawater air-conditioning, geothermal and geoengineering. This paper also proposes the use of electrolysis ships for the flexible production of green hydrogen and showed that its investment cost can be three times smaller than in fixed electrolysis plants. The oil and gas industry has substantial intellectual, financial capital and geopolitical influence that would not be lost during a shift to a more sustainable world. Indeed, these assets should be used to facilitate the transition to a more sustainable future. • Hydrogen is a good alternative for sustainable development in O&G companies. • Natural hydrogen is a good alternative to the upstream O&G companies. • Benefits of electrolysis ships to produce green hydrogen. • Case study to produce green hydrogen in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new frontier for hydropower electricity generation in Brazil, the Amazon region, cannot be used for energy storage as the construction of storage reservoirs would have deep environmental and social impacts, thus run-of-the-river dams have been built instead. If Brazil still wants to generate 80% of its electricity from hydropower, there is the need to increase the country's energy storage capacity so that the excess generation coming from the dams in the Amazon region during the wet period can be used during the dry period. This article presents four ways to increase the storage capacity of a watershed. The most innovative alternative involves a large-scale pumped-storage site combined with a series of hydropower dams in cascade, which could store energy by pumping water to a new reservoir during the wet period and generate energy by releasing the stored water during the dry period. Even though pumped storage schemes have an average efficiency of around 75%, it has been calculated that the combination of a pumped storage site and a series of hydroelectric dams in cascade can increase the overall storage efficiency up to 90% and double the storage capacity of a watershed. This scheme was called EPS (Enhanced-Pumped-Storage). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global concern to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of renewable sources has led Brazil to stand out as a promising nation in this context, with a large portion of its energy capacity coming from renewable sources. However, renewable sources have the disadvantage of intermittency and seasonality, which has prompted the search for solutions to these challenges. This study assesses the feasibility of integrating hydro and solar power with a Hydrogen-based Electrical Energy Storage System (H 2 EESS) at the Serra da Mesa hydroelectric Brazilian power plant. Hydrogen would be produced through water electrolysis, taking advantage of the available excess renewable energy, and subsequently converted back into electricity through fuel cells. The integration of hydro and solar power with H 2 EESS resulted in an increase of 11.10 % in the energy produced compared to conventional hydroelectric generation, with 36.06 % of this increase coming from H 2 EESS. Additionally, there was a 9.71 % increase in the utilization of substation capacity. These results highlight the feasibility and benefits of integrating hydro and solar power with H 2 EESS. This approach allows for maximizing renewable energy generation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and better utilizing available resources without the need for significant infrastructure investments. • Feasibility of integrating hydro and solar power with a hydrogen-based electrical energy storage system. • Case Study with real data from Serra da Mesa hydroelectric brazilian power plant. • The integration of hydro and solar power with Hydrogen resulted in an increase of 11.10 % in the energy produced compared to conventional hydroelectric generation. • There was a 9.71 % increase in the utilization of substation capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global transition to renewable energy is driven by the fight against climate change. Wind power plays a crucial role in reducing dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, addressing uncertainties in wind speed variations requires innovative solutions. This study proposes a Bayesian-based approach using a Dynamic Factor Model to generate synthetic monthly average wind speed series. The Dynamic Factor Model framework captures temporal and spatial correlations, improving wind resource representation in operational planning models. The model's autoregressive configuration with common factors, prior distributions, and Bayesian inference techniques enhances predictive capabilities. Validation exercises confirm the model's reliability, accurately capturing seasonal oscillations and spatial correlations across eight wind farms. The study highlights the usefulness of the Dynamic Factor Model in evaluating wind projects and optimizing energy generation strategies, effectively mitigating wind uncertainty, and facilitating renewable energy integration in Brazil's power mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]