Search

On average, 70% of the world's freshwater is used in agriculture, with farmers transitioning to electrical irrigation systems to increase productivity, reduce climate uncertainties, and decrease water consumption. In Brazil, where agriculture is a significant part of the economy, this transition has reached record levels over the last decade, further increasing the impact of energy consumption. This paper presents a methodology that utilizes the U-Net model to detect flooded rice fields using Sentinel-2 satellite images and estimates the electrical energy consumption required to pump water for this irrigation. The proposed approach involves grouping the detected flooded areas using k-means clustering with the electricity customers' geographical coordinates, provided by the Power Distribution Company. The methodology was evaluated in a dataset of satellite images from southern Brazil, and the results demonstrate the potential of using U-Net models to identify rice fields. Furthermore, comparing the estimated electrical energy consumption required for irrigation in each cluster with the billed energy values provides valuable insights into the sustainable management of rice production systems and the electricity grid, helping to identify non-technical losses and improve irrigation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of the quality of electric power distribution services in Brazil is regulated and monitored by the National Electric Energy Agency ANEEL, which uses metrics related to the duration frequency of power interruptions that occur in the power utilities' networks. The methodology applied by the agency to establish financial compensation due to violations of the quality standards does not take into consideration the consumers' production industry when establishing compensation for the transgression of service quality indicators. This study will analyze a case study of a group of industrial consumers linked to agribusiness in the southern region of Brazil, which have strongly seasonal use of distribution networks and are scattered in large, dispersed areas. Based on the evaluation of the impact of service quality indicators on financial compensation, a regulatory mechanism is proposed in the form of an interruptible tariff duly quantified in the form of a non-linear programming problem to find a discount range for uninterruptible tariffs. The results obtained with the real data for the group of irrigating consumers demonstrate the feasibility regarding the application of the proposed approach, whether due to the discounts offered or even the repercussions of the calculated financial amounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the rural regions of southern Brazil, electricity is largely directed to irrigation activities on rice crops at restricted periods of the year. Typically, customers in these regions are called "irrigators", and have some characteristics different from loads in urban centers, such as high demand levels and sharp load variations. These characteristics can result in problems of excessive loading on distribution grids at certain times of the day, generating concerns for the power utilities in relation to the security of the electrical system, energy supply to customers, and the integrity of electrical equipment. An alternative to avoid or mitigate these possible problems may be the application of a demand management model to irrigator customers. In this context, a load shifting strategy can be inserted to reduce demand in more critical periods and move it to intervals with lower load on the power grid. In this context, this article presents a demand-side management methodology in distribution systems located in rural areas, employing the load shifting strategy for irrigator customers. The methodology proposed in this paper is not an entirely novel approach, but one specifically developed for the context of irrigator customers, a subject little studied in the literature. The load management model proposed by this study is segmented into three hierarchical levels. The first level is the identification of the electrical characteristics of the distribution systems, the second level is the power flow analysis of the distribution networks, and the third and last level consists in the application of load shifting to the irrigator customers of these electrical systems. The load shifting strategy is modeled by a linear programming algorithm and is only applied to irrigator customers in situations of excessive loading on power grid. The case studies were conducted on three distribution systems of a power utility, with more than 150 irrigator customers. The DSM model based on the load shifting strategy reduced the maximum demand and daily load variations on the three rural feeders evaluated. The proposed changes in load patterns can ensure the continuity of electric power supply service in future even with the high concentration of load on distribution networks, benefiting customers and power utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]