EDF and the Brazilian Power Sector

Electricité de France (EDF) is a leading player in the European energy market by being both the first electricity producer in Europe and the world’s leading nuclear plant operator. EDF is also the first electricity producer and supplier in France. However, Europe, EDF’s core market, is currently underperforming: the European sovereign debt crisis is lowering significantly the growth perspective of an energy market that has already reached its maturity. As a consequence, European energy companies are now looking at international markets and especially BRIC economies where economic growth potential remains high. Among them, Brazil is expected to keep its strong economic and electricity demand growth perspectives for the coming decades. Though Brazil has not been considered as a strategic priority for EDF after the Light reversal in 2006, the current economic situation has led the Group to reconsider its position toward the country. EDF’s current presence in Brazil is limited to its stake in UTE Norte Fluminense, a thermal plant, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This report investigates the possibility and the feasibility of EDF’s activities expansion in Brazil and what added value it could bring for the Brazilian power market. Considering that the status quo would not allow EDF to take full advantage of Brazil’s future growth, this work is identifying the various options that are currently opened to EDF: market exit, status quo, EDF alone, local partner. For that purpose, this study collects and analyses the latest energy market data as well as generation companies’ information which are necessary to give a relevant overview of the current brazilian power sector and to present EDF strategic options for the country.

Nigeria's power sector: Analysis of productivity

Nigerian electricity market is characterized by inadequate electricity generation framework, compounded by lack of timely routine maintenances. This results in significant deterioration in plant electricity output. This study analyzes the productivity changes in the Nigerian power sector. Productivity increased on average in the power sector by the adoption of new technologies from best-practice power plants. The assumption of Hicks neutral technological change is found not to be suitable for the Nigerian power sector. This study finds that the plants are not using their capacity meaningfully, instead, there is a tendency to use labor.

Effects of Climate Change on the European Nuclear Power Sector

4 p.

Impacts of Climate Change on European Critical Infrastructures: The Case of the Power Sector

23 p.

Investment incentives and valuation of power sector infrastructure assets with increasing interconnection, intermittency and decarbonisation

This dissertation applies a variety of quantitative methods to electricity and carbon market data, utility company accounts data, capital and operating costs to analyse some of the challenges associated with investment in energy assets. In particular, three distinct research topics are analysed within this general theme: the efficiency of interconnector trading, the optimal sizing of intermittent wind facilities and the impact of carbon pricing on the cost of capital for investors are researched in successive sections.

UK Power Sector Challenge to National Allocation Plan Under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme Refused by the European Court of Justice

In Case T-130/06 Drax Power and others v European Commission, the Court of First Instance held that an application by Drax Power and others for annulment of Commission Decision (C(2006)426 final of 22 February 2006 concerning a proposed amendment to the National Allocation Plan notified by the UK in accordance with the EU Emissions Trading Directive was inadmissable. The Court ruled that the applicants could not be considered to be 'directly concerned' by the contested decision within the meaning of the fourth paragraph of Article 230 of the European Treaty, on legal standing: 'Any natural or legal person may, under the same conditions, institute proceedings against a decision addressed to that person or against a decision, which, although in the form of a regulation or a decision addressed to another persion, is of direct and individual concern to the former...'

Regulatory reform in the brazilian railway sector and concession valuation: a preliminary assessment

Trabalho apresentado na 4th Conference on the Regulation of Infrastructures

Regulatory reform in the brazilian railway sector and its potential effects

Trabalho apresentado no Law and Society Annual Conference, 2015

Regulatory reform in the brazilian railway sector: a preliminary assesment

Escola de Direito do Rio de Janeiro da Fundação Getulio Vargas

Cogeneration for small users: case studies for Brazilian tertiary sector

In this paper we present technical and economic studies of cogeneration systems utilizing combustion engines and gas turbines, applied in two establishments of the tertiary sector, regarding Brazilian conditions (according to Silveria, 1994). In the first step cogeneration systems utilizing combustion engines associated to absorption refrigeration systems are studied, in which electricity and cold air for a university building rate produced. In the second step some possibilities of the use of the gas turbine in cogeneration systems for a hospital are shown. In this case, the exhaust gases are utilized for the production of steam in a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) or cold water in an absorption refrigeration system (for air conditioning) for the hospital building. The dynamic increment of the energy demand of Brazilian tertiary sector in last years can increase the installation of these cogeneration system (in compact version) as well as strengthen the development of the decentralized energy generation in Brazil.

Study of a fuel cell cogeneration system applied to a Brazilian tertiary sector

In this paper, a methodology for the study of a molten carbonate fuel cell cogeneration system and applied to a computer center building is developed. This system permits the recovery of waste heat, available between 600°C and 700°C, which can be used to the production of steam, hot and cold water, hot and cold air, depending on the recuperation equipment associated. Initially, some technical information about the most diffusing types of the fuel cell demonstration in the world are presented. In conclusion, the fuel cell cogeneration system may have an excellent opportunity to strengthen the decentralized energy production in the Brazilian tertiary sector.

Consumer behavior after the Brazilian power rationing in 2001

In June 2001, after a dry period, the level of the water reservoirs in Brazil was below their operational levels. This situation, combined with other historical factors, led the country into a period of power rationing. As expected, power consumption lowered during this period. After December 2001, when the power rationing ended, electrical utilities expected to return to their normal power consumption in a matter of months, but the level of power consumption only returned to its level around years 2004 2005. Consumer behavior went through a change during this period, and the consumers kept this behavior after, leading to electrical and economical consequences until today. This paper presents an analysis of several factors that led to these events, including historical consumption data and comparisons with similar situations. The objective of this analysis is to give helpful information to electrical utilities, that could deal with similar situations, in their load forecasting studies. © 2006 IEEE.

Brazilian external sector so far in the XXIst century

Policies towards the external sector have maintained their basic characteristics since the beginning of the present decade, although emphasis has been given to some specific aspects. Little doubt remains that the positive outcome - at least until recently – has been clearly a result of the country having profited from very favorable circumstances in the international scenario. This article discusses the main features of the external sector of the Brazilian economy, regarding trade flows, foreign investment, the internationalization of Brazilian entrepreneurial groups and the short-term financial requirements in foreign currencies.

Two studies on transnational corporations in the Brazilian manufacturing sector: the 1980s and early 1990s

Includes bibliography

Exports from the Brazilian automotive sector to the Southern Common Market: Trade diversion or cost reduction?

The automotive sector is one of the sectors in which trade between mercosur countries has grown most strongly. This article examines the possibility that trade diversion occurred in that sector during the period 1991-2010, assuming that product costs fell as a result of market expansion. The analysis is based on the concepts of “cost reduction” and “trade suppression” coined by Corden (1972), which capture the effects of economies of scale. Indices of regional orientation and revealed comparative advantages are used in combination to assess whether the trade bloc is evolving in line with comparative advantages. The results suggest efficiency gains for automotive-sector products, exports of which from Brazil to mercosur grew more vigorously because the expanded and relatively protected market made it possible to exploit the economies of scale that are characteristic of the automotive industry.