The storage system to be installed by Neoenergia Coelba

will provide savings of R$ 1.5 million a year to the institution

Bahia (BA), November 16, 2023

As a partner and supporter of the Sister Dulce Social Works (OSID), Neoenergia Coelba makes another significant social commitment to the institution. This Thursday (16th), the distributor signed a cooperation agreement that will guarantee the installation of a new solar power plant and a modern energy storage system at the Santo Antônio Hospital, the heart of the Sister Dulce Social Works, in Salvador. The initiative will generate an estimated energy savings of 1,268 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year and 600 kilowatts (kW) of demand reduction during peak hours of the distribution company, resulting in annual savings for Social Works of R$ 1.5 million in electricity expenses.

Neoenergia Coelba, Neoenergia's distributor in Bahia, will invest R$ 11 million through the Energy Efficiency Program regulated by the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) in the installation of the photovoltaic solar power plant, with a capacity of 850 kilowatt of peak power (kWp), and in the storage system, capable of storing up to 1,800 kilowatt-hours per day.

The plant will supply approximately 20% of the hospital's total energy consumption, while the storage system will meet 80% of its consumption during peak hours, significantly reducing energy demand at the highest rate, which is from 18:00 to 21:00.

“We are proud to contribute to the mission of the Sister Dulce Social Works, not only generating innovation and sustainability, but also strengthening the important service provided to Bahians. The savings achieved with the solar power plant and the storage system will push OSID to offer more assistance to millions of Bahians,” says Thiago Guth, director-president of Neoenergia Coelba.

The savings generated by the solar power plant will allow Sister Dulce Social Works to redirect the amount to other initiatives of the institution, which welcomes more than three million people a year in the state. Still in Bahia, the OSID is responsible for performing 5.6 million annual outpatient procedures, of which two million are performed at its headquarters in Salvador alone. Among the public welcomed by the institution founded by Santa Dulce dos Pobres are the elderly, cancer patients, people with disabilities and with craniofacial deformities, homeless people, drug addicts, and children and adolescents in situations of

social vulnerability.

The generation system to be installed will not be able to inject energy into the Neoenergia Coelba network, since OSID is a free customer and, therefore, will need to use or store electricity to use it at times of greater demand or at the highest cost for the hospital, called a zero grid system.

“This partnership with Neoenergia reaffirms a commitment to environmental and social sustainability. In addition to contributing to the protection of the environment, this initiative will enable the OSID, by reducing electricity costs, to apply this savings to the maintenance of services provided to the population, especially those most in need,” says Maria Rita Pontes, superintendent of Social Works Sister Dulce.

For the installation of the zero grid system at OSID, the distributor has a partnership with GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation for Sustainable Development). The design and monitoring of the facilities will be carried out by consultants hired by the agency, as part of the technical cooperation action.