Assessment of Energy Centres in Brazil

Abstract

HEADLINES: • The authors advise the British Embassy to create a Brazil-UK Energy Centre, with legitimacy, independence, and financial sustainability, involving leading stakeholders from the energy sector and academia. • This project identified 419 relevant stakeholders for the purpose of creating an integrated energy centre in Brazil, being 175 energy companies, 86 associations, 117 research and development institutions, and 41 governmental bodies. • 80 representative stakeholders were contacted and interviewed for this project through in-person meetings or online questionnaires. Most of the participants considered the initiative as very positive, but its success would depend on its governance model, funding source and operational system. It is fundamental to have a centre with credibility and influence. • The energy centre could act as a centre of intelligence for energy strategies, contributing for a constructive dialogue with the energy sector and international partners, avoiding overlaps and competition with existing initiatives. Key areas of interest include project management, new technologies, bioenergy, smart-grids, distributed generation, regulation, international cooperation, renewable energies, and the transition to a low carbon economy. • The capital costs for installing this centre are estimated at R$ 153K in total (£ 31K), excluding property purchase. The estimated operational costs would vary from R$ 295K (£ 59K) to R$ 398K (£ 80K) a month, depending on location, staff and salaries involved. These estimates include property rentals, but buying a property is also an option. A high standard executive office with approximately 200 m2 is estimated from R$ 2,210K (£ 442K) to R$ 2,502K (£ 500K). The cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília were assessed in this study.