Weg sees an advantage in renewables, but warns of lack of transmission

With a strong presence in the electrical sector and industry, Weg, a Brazilian and global multinational in the manufacture of equipment, stated that it sees a competitive advantage in the Northeast in relation to renewable sources, such as wind and solar, but warned of the lack of transmission lines.

In an interview with CNN, Décio da Silva, president of the company's Board, pointed out a possible "imbalance" given that the expansion of transmission lines does not keep pace with investments in clean energy.

Our energy matrix is super clean, we have grown a lot with solar and wind, the Northeast region has a very big competitive advantage (...) but there was a bit of an imbalance, many parks were built and the transmission lines did not come at the same speed

Décio da Silva, president of the Weg Board

As a consequence, bottlenecks emerged in the system, leading plants to face generation cuts, known as curtailment, in some regions.

"With the entry of a share of renewable energy, there was some imbalance and now we have to install equipment to stabilize our network", he stated, when mentioning the company's investment project in a cycle generator factory.

In total, 3.6 billion investments are planned, in Jaraguá do Sul (where the company's headquarters are located) and in the neighboring city of Guaramirim.

According to the executive, the factory will "increase production [of generators], which will help with the stability of the electrical system."

"Brazil lacks infrastructure"
During the interview, the CEO also stated that Brazil "lacks" infrastructure, citing road bottlenecks (as being the transport model that the country chose as its main one", but highlighted the current investment cycle as relevant.

"The cycle is very relevant, there is a very big change in the technological scenario (...) there are opportunities for national companies and for our country (...) Brazil lacks infrastructure, especially roads, it built fewer roads than we need, and this is one of the bottlenecks that we feel, but there are opportunities", he said.

In March this year, the Federal Council of Engineering and Agronomy (Confea) launched a platform with Brazil's Infrastructure indices, based on data compiled on the 26 states and the Federal District.

For the entity's president, Vinicius Marchese, Brazil is behind when it comes to infrastructure, which, according to him, could generate problems in the "short future".

The tool carried out an infrastructure performance assessment based on six segments, including social well-being and citizenship, mobility and basic sanitation.

Source: CNN