Ahead of El Niño’s impact in the Southeast, EDP has bolstered its infrastructure in Espírito Santo with a robust contingency plan and billions in investments.
EDP has launched, ahead of schedule, the guidelines for its 2026/2027 Summer Plan for the Espírito Santo power grid. This strategic decision aims to shield the energy supply against the forecast of extreme weather events and more frequent storms caused by the El Niño phenomenon in the region. The project, detailed this week at an event at the Integrated Operations Center (COI) in Serra, directly impacts the service provided to 1.8 million consumers across 70 municipalities.
Technology and Digitalization as Pillars of Resilience
This season’s distinguishing feature lies in the intense digitalization of the grid. Currently, approximately 80% of EDP‘s customers in the state are served by self-healing systems, a technology capable of automatically isolating faults and restoring power instantly via alternative routes. This operational intelligence is centralized by the modern ADMS (Advanced Distribution Management System), which enables unified control of strategic assets.
According to Dyogenes Rosi, EDP‘s Distribution CEO, adapting to new climatic realities is an urgent priority.
“The electric sector needs to evolve its infrastructure to withstand thermal and rainfall instability. Our commitment is to combine cutting-edge technology, team qualification, and preventive measures to raise the level of reliability of energy supply to the people of Espírito Santo.”
Investments and Readiness Logistics
These actions are part of a larger investment cycle by the company, totaling R$5 billion allocated to Espírito Santo between 2025 and 2030. The amount is being applied to physical expansion, asset digitalization, and heavy maintenance, such as the preventive pruning of over 240,000 trees carried out in just the first eight months of this year, aiming to prevent branches from falling onto power lines.
For acute crisis situations, the distributor has prepared logistics capable of expanding its field workforce by up to seven times. The emergency response protocol follows strict priority criteria, ensuring preferential service to hospitals, health centers, sanitation facilities, and essential infrastructure, always operating in conjunction with the Civil Defense and the Fire Department.
With this structure, the company seeks to minimize the impacts of climatic instability, ensuring that, even under severe meteorological conditions, the state’s power grid maintains the necessary readiness levels to prevent prolonged interruptions.
