Aplicação de metodologia de dimensionamento de uma planta fotovoltaica flutuante no Açude Castanhão - Ceará

Abstract

In a global context of searching for sustainable sources of electrical energy, photovoltaic (PV) generation emerges as one of the fastest growing sources in the world, being the second largest in terms of participation in the Brazilian electric energy matrix. The objective of this work is to apply a methodology for sizing a floating photovoltaic plant (FPV) at the Castanhão Dam, located in the state of Ceará. The methodology is divided into five stages, which are the gathering of historical data from the reservoir in question, the construction of the permanence curve for the flooded area of the reservoir, the choice of the reliability levels along with the verification of the limit conditions for determining the area of the FPV plant, the computation of the installed power capacity of the FPV plant and daily electricity production by using daily values of photovoltaic productivity. The reliability levels chosen were 90% and 70%. For each of those levels, two scenarios were adopted by using 440 Wp and 600 Wp modules. The higher the reliability, the smaller the available area considered for installation. The results show that the lowest possible power under these conditions is 5,144.26 MWp and the highest is 12,612.38 MWp. The respective values obtained for annual electricity production were 8,261.68 GWh and 20,255.49 GWh, demonstrating the high potential of Castanhão for PVF generation. In conclusion, the methodology is flexible, allowing different scenarios to be considered, and replicable in other reservoirs, as long as historical data is available. The implementation of PVF systems is a viable alternative for the semiarid environment, as it takes advantage of the availability of water reservoir areas.