ONS Decides Not to Trigger Emergency Curtailment for Father's Day

Overview

• The Operador Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ONS) said late Saturday it would not activate its emergency surplus-management plan for Father's Day after real-time actions and a stronger minimum-load forecast reduced the need for cuts.
• The emergency plan remains in place and gives distributors the authority to restrict 'Tipo III' distributed generators, a category that covers many rooftop photovoltaic systems and small plants.
• Rising rooftop solar output concentrates supply in midday while peak demand comes later in the day, creating surplus risk that can force the operator to cut output from some generators to keep the system stable.
• The ONS first extended this kind of curtailment reach earlier in the year and reportedly used the measure on June 7, and experts say such activations are likely to become more frequent as distributed solar grows.
• ONS said it will continue real-time management of available resources, and the sector should expect more curtailment events that could affect distributor operations, small generator revenues, and future rules for integrating rooftop solar.