Flexibility, Capacity, and Ancillary Services: The Role of Utility-Scale BESS in Brazil's Interconnected Power System (SIN)

Markus Vlasits started as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Germany and has been active in the solar PV industry for 17 years in several executive positions. In 2007-2009, he was Production Manager of crystallization and wafering at Q.Cells SE, Thalheim, Germany, where he reached a vice-presidential role in Sales Operations. Moving to Brazil in 2013, he started as CEO of Yingli Green Energy do Brasil. He teamed up with fellow executives to open Faro Energy, an investment company focusing on PV generation projects for commercial concerns, and was its Sales Director until 2018. In 2019, he was an independent consultant and helped start ABSOLAR's Energy Storage Workgroup. In 2020, founded NewCharge, an engineering company focused on energy storage projects for commercial clients in Brazil. He is also active as acts as a technical consultant and advisor for projects related to energy storage. In August 2023, he was elected president of board of directors of the Brazilian Association for Energy Storage Solutions (ABSAE). Markus also organizes energy storage events and conferences, and recently co-organized an energy storage conference panel for Intersolar South America 2021 in partnership with Solar Promotion.

Diogo Zaverucha is the Director of the Energy Storage Business Unit (BESS) at Brasol, a renewable energy platform controlled by companies such as Siemens and BlackRock. With over 20 years of experience in the energy sector, Diogo previously served as Director of Business Development at Statkraft in Brazil and also worked at Petrobras in the biofuels division. He was a founding partner of SolarGrid, one of the leading distributed solar generation companies in the country. At Brasol, he currently leads the structuring and development of energy storage projects, both for the Capacity Reserve Auction (LRCAP) and for smaller-scale applications in the commercial, industrial, and agribusiness segments.

Fernanda Paschoalino holds a bachelor's degree in production engineering from the Federal University of Fluminense, as well as a master's degree in the same field from the same institution. She has more than 15 years of experience in the electric power sector, most of it at the Energy Research Company (EPE), where she works in the Electric Power Generation Division, focusing on economic and financial feasibility studies for power generation and storage projects, in addition to participating in strategic discussions related to market design and planning for the electric power sector.

Director of Institutional Relations at Casa dos Ventos; Board Member of the National System Operator (ONS); and Board Member of associations such as the Brazilian Wind Energy Association (ABEEólica) and the Brazilian Green Hydrogen Industry Association (ABIHV).

André Perim holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Espírito Santo and is a federal civil servant in the Infrastructure Analyst career track, with extensive experience in the Brazilian electricity sector. He has worked at the Ministry of Mines and Energy since 2012, where he currently serves as Director of Planning and Concessions for Electric Power Generation.

Gabriel de Souza Pontes is Director of Business Development at Elera Renováveis, where he leads the origination and structuring of opportunities in renewable power generation, energy storage and hybrid solutions. His experience spans the strategic, technical, regulatory, commercial and investment dimensions of the power sector. An engineer from the University of São Paulo (USP), with executive education from IESE Business School, he develops business models, partnerships and investment structures designed to advance Brazil's energy transition.