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nerate electricity at a direct cost lower than any conventional
fossil fuel-driven (or nuclear) power station;
b) the fast increase in share of electric vehicles, powe-
red by the plummeting cost of batteries.

These two elements add new factors to be considered in
power system planning, at all levels:
a) the unavoidable presence of pervasive uncertainty –
stressing the importance of storage;
b) the generalized presence of dispersed generation
based on renewables – demanding new business models to
attend new demands from consumers, who will search for
more security and less energy.

Projections for Brazil, Governo Federal (2018), admit
that in 2050 hydropower (the traditional primary source) will
amount to 46% only of the total electric energy generation,
with wind power amounting to more than 20% and solar power
to almost 10%, reserving a share of 17% for biomass and only
marginally more than 7% for fossil fuels (natural gas). This
means a 30% share for the new renewables.
Brazil is only following the trend already observed in
many industrialized countries. In Portugal, for instance, in
2020 the share for wind power is already about 25% and fossil
fuel power stations continue to be de-commissioned, meeting
targets set by the European Union to assure the de-carboniza-
tion of the economy. In a typical day, however, the participation
of the new renewables may be much higher – see Fig. 2.
Apart from exceptional record days, for instance, in a
typical July 29, 2019, according to REN (2019), wind power
represented in Portugal 43,5% of the energy generated, while
pumping for hydro storage amounted to 6.7% of the energy
generated – highlighting the importance of hydro storage in
maintaining a well-balanced and economically operated sys-
tem.

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