Check out the August 2026 edition of our Energy Newsletter

On August 11, 2026, ANEEL decided to stay the request of Engie Brasil Energia S.A. (“Engie”) to extend the concession of the Salto Santiago Hydroelectric Plant (“UHE”) and determined the opening of a specific regulatory process to govern the application of § 7 of art. 26 of Law No. 9,427/1996. The provision allows the extension of hydroelectric concessions and authorizations with added capacity for a period sufficient to amortize investments, limited to 20 years, but does not establish a methodology for defining this period.

In this context, the discussion arose from the project to expand UHE Salto Santiago by 710 MW and involved interpreting the concept of “optimal use” (“aproveitamento ótimo”). Ultimately, ANEEL recognized that this concept is not limited to increasing energy produced and may cover efficiency gains, operational flexibility, and capacity, in line with the positions of the Brazilian Grid Operator (“ONS”) and the Federal Attorney’s Office at ANEEL.

On the other hand, the Board understood that the extension calculation methodology should not be defined only in the specific case, since doubts remain about which revenues, investments, and economic parameters should be considered for amortization purposes. Per the prevailing dissenting-review vote, these choices are regulatory in nature and may affect future hydroelectric expansion requests, warranting the opening of a specific analysis process and subsequent regulation.

Accordingly, ANEEL determined that the its technical areas should open a specific regulatory process, subject to Public Consultation, to define the criteria and methodology applicable to extensions under § 7 of art. 26 of Law No. 9,427/1996. The final regulatory proposal must be submitted to the Board within 120 days.

On August 24, 2026, ANEEL denied a request for an injunction seeking to preserve a Distributed Generation (“GD”) project’s classification as GD I while the merits analysis of a possible exceedance of the 5 MW installed capacity limit for GD I generating plants remained pending.

In the case at hand, the distributor responsible for the project’s connection point identified the exceedance of the 5 MW regulatory limit and applied the consequences under ANEEL Normative Resolution No. 1,000/2021 (“REN No. 1,000/2021”), including billing review, cancellation of credits in the Electricity Compensation System (“SCEE”), and reclassification of the project from GD I to GD III.

In this context, the discussion focused on criteria applicable to measuring installed capacity of photovoltaic projects by distribution concessionaires, especially given divergence between inverters’ nominal power, their maximum power, and grid injection records. Although the Agency’s final decision denied the injunction, in a dissenting vote Director Gentil Nogueira de Sá Junior highlighted the technical and regulatory controversy over capacity measurement and noted that ANEEL itself is discussing, under Public Consultation No. 09/2026, a proposal to define installed capacity of photovoltaic systems.

Furthermore, in a separate proceeding, the Board had already denied, on May 12, 2026, an injunction seeking to preserve a project’s GD I classification given alleged irregularities in the inspection and connection procedure performed by the distributor. On that occasion, ANEEL understood that procedural connection failures would not, by themselves, automatically maintain the intended classification, requiring analysis of the connection process and the parties’ obligations.

Accordingly, in the cases analyzed, ANEEL’s Board has referred to the Superintendence of Administrative Mediation and Consumer Relations (“SMA”) the instruction and merits decision of controversies related to project classification, including the assessment of installed capacity and injection records, as well as the effects of connection-procedure failures on the applicable regulatory classification.

On September 1, 2026, ANEEL denied an injunction seeking to suspend the deadline for the ONS to issue Access Opinions for nine projects selected in the bidding phase of Auction No. 2/2026-ANEEL, LRCAP 2026, until judgment of an administrative appeal against the Permanent Auction Commission (“CPL”) decision that did not qualify certain plants.

In this context, the Access Opinion requests had been submitted to ONS on May 29, 2026, accompanied by a Financial Guarantee for Access Opinion Request (“GPA”) of approximately R$ 43.4 million. Under applicable rules, after the opinions are issued, the agent has five business days to decide on entering into the Transmission System Use Agreement (“CUST”); proceeding requires the Prior Guarantee for CUST Execution (“GPC”), equal to 40 times the Transmission System Use Charge (“EUST”), while withdrawal within that period allows full return of the GPA.

Although the Rapporteur understood that the pending administrative appeal against disqualification by the CPL justified suspending deadlines until the situation of the projects in LRCAP 2026 was defined, the prevailing view was that mere pendency of the appeal was insufficient to show likelihood of the right, since the CPL had already reexamined the allegations on reconsideration and maintained the disqualification decision based on technical analysis and legal opinion issued in the course of the LRCAP 2026 qualification process.

Accordingly, ANEEL maintained the processing of access procedures without suspending ONS deadlines for issuing Access Opinions while the administrative appeal against disqualification remains pending before the Board.

In September 2026, ANEEL opened Public Consultation No. 033/2026 to receive contributions for the revision of Module 3 of the Electricity Distribution Procedures in the National Electric System (“PRODIST”). The proposal establishes new connection requirements for Distributed Energy Resources (“REDs”), which include distributed generation, storage systems, and loads capable of adjusting their consumption, such as electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The discussion stems from proposals submitted by ONS beginning in 2025 to expand coordination between transmission and distribution system operations given the expansion of REDs, including following comments on the impacts of distributed generation on the SIN.

The new rules seek to allow distributors to receive information on the operation of connected equipment and, when necessary, send commands to adjust energy injection or consumption. The draft under discussion also establishes communication, protection, power quality, and voltage and frequency response requirements, with differentiated requirements based on the size and impact of each installation.

The new requirements would apply to all future connections. For existing installations, the proposal would reach approximately 68,000 distributed mini-generation units and 1,500 Type III generating plants totaling over 33 GW of installed capacity. The 4.31 million existing micro-generators — a category that includes the majority of residential solar systems — would not be covered. Interested parties may submit contributions to Public Consultation No. 033/2026 until November 9, 2026.

On August 24, 2026, MME opened a public consultation to receive contributions on changes to the allocation rules for the Reserve Capacity Charge (“ERCAP”). The proposal revises Decree No. 10,707/2021 to align it with the amendments introduced by Law No. 15,269/2025 and to establish a criterion that considers consumers’ load profile.

Currently, the allocation considers each consumer’s highest hourly net consumption in the month, regardless of its coincidence with the SIN’s maximum demand. The proposal replaces this criterion with the highest consumption recorded during the SIN’s maximum net demand period, corresponding to a window of up to four consecutive hours on business days, to be defined by ONS. With this change, consumers who reduce or shift their consumption outside this period will lower their participation in the charge allocation.

The draft also includes generators in the ERCAP allocation in cases provided by law, subject to ANEEL regulation, and allows the guidelines for each auction to establish specific treatment for backing associated with storage projects. Additionally, the proposal provides for the funding, through the ERCAP, of competitive demand-response mechanisms. Interested parties may submit contributions until October 8, 2026.