The Ministry of Mines and Energy has adjusted guidelines to allow the purchase of Paraguayan electricity by the Brazilian free market, defining new transmission and cost regulations.
The clean energy landscape in South America has just reached an important regulatory milestone.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) has published a new ordinance to unlock the purchase of electricity from Paraguay destined for the Free Contracting Environment (ACL).
The measure details how transmission tariffs will be settled and establishes clearer operational criteria for the next steps of this exchange.
The changes are outlined in Normative Ordinance 142, which was officialized in late September in the Federal Official Gazette.
With this update, the Brazilian government seeks to provide legal certainty and predictability so that renewable supplies from neighboring countries can integrate into the National Interconnected System (SIN) in a structured manner, strengthening regional energy transition.
New rules for the use of the transmission grid
One of the central points of the regulation is the exact definition of who assumes the logistics costs.
It has been established that the company responsible for the import must bear all connection and transmission tariffs, including those linked to the direct current structures of the Itaipu hydroelectric plant.
Previous regulation only indicated that charges should follow general sector standards, which created operational uncertainty.
Now, the cost breakdown considers a proportional allocation between the importing agent and other purchasers of the binational hydroelectric plant’s services, ensuring financial transparency for the sector.
The new regulation provides the financial and operational clarity essential to unlocking the flow of clean energy between neighboring countries, offering predictability to free market agents.
Operationalization by the ONS and commercialization
The ordinance also defines the role of the National Electric System Operator (ONS) in managing the external supply.
During the planning phase, the agency will use the amounts reported by Paraguayan authorities, while always respecting contractual limits signed in Brazil.
Official accounting will follow criteria aligned between the Brazilian operator and the institution designated by the Paraguayan government.
Within the Electric Energy Commercialization Chamber (CCEE), the flow will continue to be represented through a virtual power plant.
The model allows for the continuous import of up to 120 average megawatts (MWa) per month, with delivery at the Margem Direita substation, provided the electricity originates from the Paraguayan system and not from the traditional Itaipu allocation.
The opening of this import modality began in late 2024, allowing the MME to authorize several energy trading companies.
On the Paraguayan side, the state-owned utility Ande is also mobilizing the sector by seeking partnerships to export its own production surpluses, such as the volumes generated by the Acaray hydroelectric plant, consolidating an increasingly integrated and competitive regional market.
