Court Overturns Preliminary Ruling, Reverses Victory of PCH Ribeirão Bonito in the New Energy Auction A-5 and Affirms Technical Ineligibility Imposed by the EPE
The legal dispute surrounding the New Energy Auction A-5 took a significant turn following a recent decision by the Federal Court.
The Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region accepted the arguments of the Energy Research Company and overturned the ruling that had kept a hydroelectric project in the auction under precautionary requirements.
With the new collective understanding, the technical disqualification of the project is once again fully in effect.
The controversy highlights the limits of judicial interference in electric sector auction rules and the strictness required in the registration of new generation sources.
Understanding the Technical Registration Dispute
The controversy involves the PCH Ribeirão Bonito, operated by Rio Turvo Energética.
The project had secured a spot among the auction winners thanks to a precautionary measure obtained in court, overturning the initial veto applied by the National Electricity Agency in the second half of 2025.
The reason for the original exclusion was a registration discrepancy.
Technicians identified that the connection point listed in the project differed from that in the official access document presented to the EPE, creating a regulatory impasse.
The generator’s defense argued that changing the energy destination to local substations would not cause systemic harm.
However, the 12th Chamber of TRF4 followed a strict line of regulatory legality.
The decision highlighted:
Requirements set forth in the regulation and the notice must be applied equally to all auction participants, not constituting excessive formalism for disqualification based on objective criteria.
Next Steps and Sector Implications
The ruling also emphasized that the judiciary should not interfere with strictly technical criteria evaluated by the competent bodies, limiting itself to monitoring compliance with the auction’s rules.
This jurisprudence reinforces legal certainty for future auctions promoted by the federal government.
After the unfavorable ruling was issued against the concessionaire, the EPE officially notified Aneel so that the resulting regulatory procedures could be carried out.
The exact outcomes regarding the reallocation of the energy quota and the definitive legal status of the plant still depend on new directives from the regulatory agency.