Simulação de autorrestabelecimento na UHE Dona Francisca bate recorde

In two simulations de of energy restoration at the Dona Francisca HPP, the Operation & Maintenance teams at Cotesa Engenharia managed to self-restore the plant in just 12 minutes, breaking the record for the shortest time in the asset's history. The regulation of the electricity sector requires that the assets are restored in up to 30 minutes, guaranteeing the availability of energy for the population in a short time. 

The mark was reached in the first self-recovery test after Cotesa Engenharia took over the Operation & Maintenance of UHE Dona Francisca, located in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul, in February 2021. “This result demonstrates the technical quality and the work commitment that Cotesa Engenharia's O&M teams have to deliver good results”, congratulated the Operations manager, Daniel Bicicgo. 

The self-recovery test must be performed every year by the plants that have the ability to self-recover after a general shutdown in the National Interconnected System (SIN). Practice is essential to assess the plant's ability to resume operation after a blackout and without the presence of any external energy source, after a complete shutdown of the electrical system. 

Regulation 

Self-resetting is regulated by the Operational Routine RO-RR.BR.01 of the Grid Procedures of the National Electric System Operator (ONS). A generating unit needs electrical energy to power the equipment responsible for the unit's start-up process, but in the case of a large shutdown known as Blackout, there would be no electrical energy to power these equipment.  

In this way, it would not be possible to start the generating units to restore the system. Due to this fact, some plants have emergency generators responsible for supplying the electrical power needed to start the first generating units and start the process of restoring the SIN after a blackout.