Interview: Ricardo Grassmann, director of Vertical Energy at ACATE

 

Around 150 people, including government representatives, energy concessionaires, suppliers and research, development and innovation centers in Brazil, participated in the Workshop to present the results of the mapping of national ICT suppliers for Intelligent Electric Grids, held on June 11 , in the auditorium of the National Confederation of Commerce (CNC), in Brasília.
 
The director of Vertical Energia of the Santa Catarina Association of Technology Companies (ACATE), Ricardo Grassmann, CEO of Way2, participated in the table that discussed the main themes identified in the Mapping of National Suppliers of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Networks Electric Power Systems (REI), carried out by the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI), with obstacles, recommendations, strengths and opportunities for the sector. Check out the interview that Grassmann gave to Portal ABES.
 
What is your workshop balance sheet?
Great. The workshop's central theme was the presentation of the mapping of the national information and communication technology supply chain for the Smart Grid. In addition, ABDI took the opportunity to promote further discussions. All the theme's stakeholders were represented, the discussion was of a high level and the result was excellent with a lot of material to enrich the report.
 
In your opinion, what are the main points of the mapping?
The main conclusion is that in order to actually develop the market for smart grids, an alignment between industrial policy, telecommunications policy and sector policy is essential. All government agents, institutions and entities must act in accordance with a well-planned and aligned long-term policy, otherwise we will not deliver to society the benefits that the smart grid can and should provide.
 
Another point to highlight is that although investments in R&D have already exceeded R$ 1 billion, probably reaching R$ 3 billion in the 2013/2014 biennium, it is still very little in relation to the values needed for the scaled implementation of the concept.
 
What do you bring from this experience to Santa Catarina?
Through the mapping, it was identified that there is part of the production chain that is very well served with national suppliers, but in some verticals there are countless opportunities for the development of national technology. The State of Santa Catarina, with its tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, can seize the opportunity to once again emerge with solutions for the smart grid value chain.
 
Any other information you want to highlight?
The national mapping is just one of the stages foreseen in the ICT Supply Chain Mapping project for Intelligent Electric Grids. Another stage that will take place during 2014 and will be fundamental in the analysis and success of this market is the identification and evaluation of business models. Business model alternatives may be the solution to the difficult financial equation of total roll-out of Intelligent Electric Grids in Brazil if they are aligned with other trends such as Smart Cities and Internet of Things (IoT). For this reason, the alignment of long-term public policies is so fundamental for the development of our country and our society.