Brazil’s largest microgrid has gone online at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). The CampusGrid project combines a 565 kW solar system with a 1 MW high capacity battery energy storage system (BESS).
The State University of Campinas (Unicamp) has launched the CampusGrid microgrid at the Barão Geraldo campus in Campinas, São Paulo.
The facility integrates a 565 kW solar energy system with a 1 MW BESS, providing up to two hours of autonomy. In the event of a prolonged outage, a natural gas generator provides 250 kVa until normal production resumes.
The BRL45.3 million ($7.7 million) project, developed with CPFL Energia, is part of Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) research and development program. It brings together researchers from the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), the Advanced Institute of Technology and Innovation (IATI) and the China Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI).
“The CampusGrid microgrid, the largest university microgrid in Latin America and the Caribbean, covers an area of 144,000 m² and combines innovative elements such as renewable and non-renewable energy generation, battery storage, smart meters and an autonomous control center allowing it to be decoupled from the main network can work,” says Unicamp Prof. Luiz Carlos Silva. “This ability to operate independently is especially crucial in the event of power outages, increasing resilience to extreme weather events.”
The model increases both sustainability and energy efficiency while delivering direct economic benefits. With PV generation alone, Unicamp expects to save approximately BRL 450,000 per year on its electricity bill.
“CampusGrid is more than an on-premise solution: it is a living laboratory that allows us to validate technologies and broaden our horizons for future applications,” said Silva. “From isolated communities in the Amazon to sectors such as mining and irrigated agriculture, the potential for replication is enormous and strategic.”
The microgrid powers facilities such as the Multidisciplinary Gymnasium, the College of Physical Education and the Central César Lattes and Rare Works libraries.
Gustavo Estrella, CEO of CPFL Energia Group, said intermittent energy is the biggest challenge facing the electricity sector, a challenge that must be addressed to sustainably integrate renewable energy generation.
“It is a great source of pride to see that we have managed to develop an economically viable technology to generate clean energy at an affordable cost, but we face the challenge of network management, namely the issue of intermittent energy,” said Estrella. “The world is working on this to figure out how we can sustainably sustain the growth of renewable energy generation, coupled with the issue of energy security.”
The increased participation of intermittent sources such as solar and wind energy requires initiatives that balance sustainability with energy security.
“Our mission is to make entire cities and countries run systems like the one we are launching here in a sustainable way. We have high expectations of how we can contribute to global energy security,” said Gustavo Estrella, CEO of CPFL Energia.
Bruno Monte, Director of Strategy and Innovation at CPFL, said this pv magazine that technology can help integrate distributed generation into the electricity grid.
“This project that we are launching today is the largest pilot of its kind. It is something new, but it has the potential to help both Brazil and all countries integrate distributed generation in a more cohesive way in the coming years, both for grid operations and for delivering energy to customers,” Monte said. “So without a doubt this is a technology that should help with this in the medium term.”
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