BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: André Menescal Guedes, Raissa Freire de Almeida and Bruno Paiva, André Menescal Advogados
6.2 Key Developments in Renewable Energy and Cutting Emissions Brazil’s most significant development in the last three years has been the formal adoption of an integrated decarbonisation agenda that links renewable electric- ity, low-carbon fuels and industrial policy. The federal government approved the Fuels of the Future Law (Law No. 14,993/2024), which creates mandatory programmes for sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and biomethane, and sets progressive blending and emission-reduction targets in the transport and gas sectors. The same law introduces a regulatory framework for carbon capture and storage and sup- ports synthetic fuels produced from green hydrogen and captured CO2. These measures form part of a broader national transition strategy aimed at lowering lifecycle emissions in hard-to-abate sectors such as aviation, refining, fertilisers and steel. Brazil has moved beyond pilot announcements and is now attempting to anchor a domestic green hydro- gen and green ammonia economy in the Northeast. FINEP launched the Northeast Hydrogen Call to channel concessional funding towards projects tied to export-capable port complexes such as Pecém and Suape. Parallel legislative measures, including the emerging low-carbon hydrogen framework and attribution of regulatory authority to the national oil and fuels regulator (ANP), seek to standardise certifi- cation and define which forms of hydrogen and e-fuels qualify as “renewable” or “low carbon” for incentives and offtake. This policy is explicitly industrial: the objective is to create new export corridors, not only to decarbonise domestic power generation. At the same time, large-scale wind and solar pro- jects in the Northeast have faced curtailment due to transmission congestion, which has generated dis- putes over compensation and has affected pricing in M&A for renewable platforms. Buyers now demand contractual protection for dispatch risk and evaluate exposure to grid expansion schedules when valu- ing assets. In response, Brazil is preparing a market design for utility-scale battery energy storage sys- tems. The current direction is to treat storage as a grid resource to be procured through future auctions for capacity and ancillary services, rather than limit- ing batteries to behind-the-meter optimisation. This is
intended to relieve congestion and stabilise renewable revenues. Brazil has also reintroduced firm thermal capacity as a policy instrument for security of supply. The Minis- try of Mines and Energy published guidelines for the 2026 Capacity Reserve Auction, which will contract dispatchable generation able to guarantee availabil- ity and, in some cases, operate on alternative fuels such as biodiesel. This shows a recalibration of energy policy: emission reduction remains a strategic prior- ity, but reliability of supply and adequacy of the grid are being treated as matters of public interest, to be remunerated explicitly alongside decarbonisation. Politically, there is broad federal and state-level align- ment around an energy transition that is market-facing rather than purely declaratory. The transition agenda has been folded into Brazil’s wider industrial policy, including the national plan for ecological transforma- tion, climate finance instruments backed by public development banks and regional funds in the North- east, and incentives for value-added processing of renewable molecules, not only for domestic consump- tion but for export. 7. Due Diligence/Data Privacy 7.1 Energy and Infrastructure Company Due Diligence In Brazil, public companies may provide due diligence information to potential bidders, but disclosure must comply with CVM Resolution No. 44/2021, which gov- erns material information and insider trading. Access is permitted when justified by a legitimate negotia- tion purpose and must not compromise the principle of equal treatment among shareholders. Sensitive or non-public data can be shared under confidentiality agreements, but the company must ensure that the information is limited to what is strictly necessary to evaluate the transaction. If multiple bidders are involved, the board of directors must ensure equal access to comparable informa- tion to avoid any perception of preferential treatment or unfair market advantage. When disclosure could influence the price of securities or the investment
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