The IEEE PES UFSM member, Marcelo Benetti, participated in the XIV SEPOPE (Symposium of Specialists in Electric Operational and Expansion Planning) that took place in Recife, Brazil, in October 2018. This event, which takes place every two years in interesting cities of Brazil, has become a truly international forum for technical and scientific discussions on planning and operation of electrical power systems.

Topics of interest included means to prevent blackouts and reducing their impact, advances in the use of synchronized phasor measurements, the impact on the power grid of renewable sources and distributed generation, integration of wind and photovoltaic generation to interconnected systems, regulatory and energy market issues, impact of huge HVDC links and power electronic devices on power system operation as well as methodologies for generation and transmission expansion planning. System-wide phenomena due to penetration of electronic and harmonic loads were also topics of interest. The reduction in utilities revenue due to recent changes in laws for the renewal of licenses for generation and transmission of electricity were also important subjects for the XIV SEPOPE.

The ample scope and relevance of the issues discussed in the XIV SEPOPE provided a valuable opportunity for extended learning and interchange among professionals from utilities, regulatory boards, planning agencies and system operators, manufacturers, universities, consultants and research centers.