Minas Gerais is leading the race for new energy storage connections in the country, concentrating the highest individual thresholds for the upcoming capacity auction.
The clean energy sector in Brazil has just gained new strategic contours with the release of connection limits for electricity storage systems.
The technical survey indicates that Minas Gerais holds the country’s most expressive figures for integrating these assets, projecting a major advance for the national power matrix.
The joint publication signed by ONS, Aneel, and EPE details the remaining capacity across different substations of the SIN.
The mapping serves as the basis for the tenders scheduled for early December, focusing on contracting supply slated to begin operations in the second half of 2028.
Highlights in Minas Gerais and regional restrictions
The largest individual volumes identified are concentrated in Minas Gerais, specifically at the Arinos 2 and Janaúba 3 busbars.
However, experts emphasize that these numbers do not operate in isolation, as projects are subject to strict regional caps.
The area encompassing northern Minas Gerais and western Bahia, for example, has an aggregate cap that limits the total sum of developments in that zone.
This dynamic repeats across several other strategic regions, where busbars with high individual capacity coexist with severe restrictions in subareas and expanded zones.
The technical study mapped everything from points with large injection margins to locations with zero remaining capacity due to transmission grid bottlenecks.
Regulators state:
The capacity available for the auctions is defined simultaneously at three levels—by busbar, subarea, and area—and a project is subject to all limits applicable to its location.
Methodology and next steps for the energy transition
To arrive at these levels, the technical team evaluated the performance of the electrical infrastructure during both power injection and absorption moments by the batteries.
Factors such as short-circuit limits and operational constraints on specific transmission lines were decisive in zeroing out the margin at certain points across the country.
With the exact volumes available now defined, the market eagerly awaits the auctions scheduled for December 2 and 4.
The success of these tenders will be a vital barometer for the expansion of large-scale storage, consolidating the security and flexibility needed for the high penetration of intermittent renewable sources in the Brazilian system.
