CIGRE Brazil - 50th Anniversary

Insertion of CIGRE Brazil in the electric power sector

Over its fifty years, CIGRE Brazil has been the main national forum of the Brazilian Electric Power Sector, covering all relevant aspects, playing a prominent active role at the international level in the exchange of experiences and in the generation of proposals for new directions and solutions for the problems of the national and international electric power sector.

The history of CIGRE Brazil is part of the trajectory of the Brazilian Electric Power Sector, as well as its insertion into the national and international scenario. This means that CIGRE Brazil and the Electric Power Sector go hand in hand. We cannot dissociate one from the other, as they are intimately interconnected. Thus, the context of the Electric Power Sector greatly affects CIGRE-Brazil.

CIGRE Brazil is a non-governmental, non-profit institution, whose mission is to promote the production, sharing and dissemination of technical knowledge applied to the electric power sector, as an inducer of sustainable quality of life.

Throughout its 50 years, CIGRE Brazil has been working harder in order to fulfill its mission, and thus strongly contribute to the professional growth of technicians in the electric power sector, fostering the interaction of these professionals in the exchange of knowledge and experiences along with companies, institutions, research centers, universities, government agencies, operators, regulators and suppliers.

The promotion of the participation of its members in technical events and working groups at national and international level also plays a prominent role. Thus, CIGRE Brazil has greatly helped the country, especially the electric power sector, to face its challenges within this new context that is being presented.

CIGRE Brazil is an important institution for continuous professional growth, as it is a source for the exchange of knowledge among experts from all over the world and technical documents with the best practices and recommendations. Therefore, such contribution is a fundamental source to support the needs of new technologies and studies for the technical improvement of companies' teams and other institutions.

Its strength is based not only on the exchange of experiences, but on the formation of professional knowledge networks, and on the analysis of national challenges and new requirements for the future electric grid. From a professional and personal perspective, CIGRE Brazil members need access to up-to-date information and opportunities for professional connections that strengthen their knowledge and contribute to their continued development.

Challenges to be overcome

Given this scenario, CIGRE Brazil must develop new strategies to ensure its continuity and evolution, acting strongly in the search for innovative and motivating ways to enter the market. This necessarily involves an aggressive approach with the new generations of technicians and engineers, even in universities and technical schools, germinating among youngsters the spirit of cooperation that has always characterized CIGRE. It also involves developing new ways to ensure their economic livelihood, reducing event costs and their own costs, and exploring alternative ways to generate income. In this context, it is essential that CIGRE's actions are aligned with the best management practices that ensure partnerships with companies filling compliance requirements that ensure transparency in line with their processes.

Large national industry events will continue to be one of our main drivers but complemented by a greater number of smaller events focused on skills training. Special emphasis should be given to the organization of instructive events, such as courses, trainings, workshops, etc., in companies, universities, training and research centers, or on the internet through virtual events and webinars. The cost of these events is reduced, generating a significant return, both financially and technologically and in terms of skills training.

Another great challenge is to maintain the sustainability of CIGRE Brazil over the next few decades, and to prepare to face the great changes that are taking place in our country and in the world. We urgently need to rethink the way it is managed to make it more strategic, innovative, agile, and efficient. The volunteerism that has always been our fundamental pillar needs to be rethought given the great changes we have been through recently. Keeping alive the importance of an organization like CIGRE Brazil in the institutions where it is present today, as well as the loyalty of our associates at all levels, is fundamental in the process of overcoming our challenges.

CIGRE Brazil needs to readjust to the country’s new situation with the scarcity of resources in companies, which reduce the participation of its teams in events and the scarcity of sponsorship for  technical CIGRE events, and still increase the amount of work published, to increase its available technical database and promote new initiatives.

The evolution to the grid of the future will require qualified professionals to work with new technologies, far beyond engineering knowledge, in new economic and social environments, multidisciplinary in nature, integrated with other critical infrastructure networks. Seeking to bring young strength to contribute to the management of the organization in technical and administrative aspects is our main challenge for renewal.

It is important to emphasize that CIGRE Brazil reached the first position in the CIGRE in terms of the number of equivalent affiliates of the National Committees, with 1 064 members in 2020.

Final message

Finally, we could not fail to pay special tribute to all those who have contributed to CIGRE Brazil's perpetuity throughout its fifty years, especially to all the Directors who participated in its 14 terms from 1971 to 2021.

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Thumbnail & Banner: Photo by Mike Swigunski on Unsplash