BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Débora Yanasse, Bruno Salzano and Luisa Tortolano Barreto, Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown
Inclusion of Battery Energy Storage Systems in the Regulatory Framework Law No 15,269/2025 (detailed below) established the legal framework for electricity storage, granting ANEEL the authority to regulate and supervise stor- age systems, including rules regarding revenues and access of storage systems to the SIN and isolated systems. Law No 15,269/2025 stipulates that electricity stor- age may be contracted through reserve capacity auc- tions and transmission auctions. It also provides that the cost of contracting reserve capacity from battery storage systems will be borne solely by generators, in accordance with ANEEL regulations. The law also includes energy storage system projects (including battery energy storage systems or BESS) in the Spe- cial Incentives Regime for Infrastructure Development ( Regime Especial de Incentivos para o Desenvolvi- mento da Infraestrutura or REIDI) tax incentive regime, with benefits limited to BRL1 billion per fiscal year between 2026 and 2030, and determined so that the executive branch may also reduce the import tax rate applicable to BESS and other components to zero. Even before this statutory mandate, ANEEL had been advancing the regulatory agenda on electricity storage through Subsidy Request No 011/2020 and later Public Consultation No 039/2023. The consolidated technical note resulting from Public Consultation No 039/2023, issued in August 2025, addressed the proposed regu- latory treatment for energy storage systems, cover- ing authorisation procedures for standalone storage, including closed-cycle pumped-storage hydroelectric power plants, grid access and use, tariff treatment, ancillary services, curtailment mitigation and revenue stacking. ANEEL’s board of directors voted on the draft regulation, but proceedings were suspended following a request for additional review ( pedido de vista ) by one of the directors. The board voted again on 7 April 2026 to approve the regulation, but a second request for additional review was raised, and the matter remains pending as of the date of publication of this guide. The regulation of energy storage has gained additional relevance in the context of reserve capacity auctions, demand response mechanisms and isolated systems auctions, as well as the need to address renewables curtailment in the SIN.
chose to adhere to this new framework received an extension of their generation concessions and author- isations. Impact of COVID-19 In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic utilities’ finances decreased due to reduced energy consumption and increased payment defaults. As a result, Decree No 10,350/2020, regulated by ANEEL Normative Reso- lution No 885/2020, created the “COVID Account”, a centralised credit line to support the liquidity of power distribution concessionaires, with costs passed on through tariffs. At the turn of 2021, Provisional Measure No 998, converted into Law No 14,120/2021, implemented measures to reduce tariff impacts from the pandemic and the privatisation of power utilities in the north and north-east regions. It also ended discounts on power transmission and distribution tariffs for renewable energy projects for which authorisation was requested after March 2022. Privatisation of Eletrobras (now Axia Energia) Provisional Measure No 1,031/2021, converted into Law 14,182/2021, determined the privatisation of Eletrobras (now Axia Energia), Latin America’s larg- est power company, created in 1954 in the phase of strong public investment. The transaction was structured and implemented by the Brazilian Devel- opment Bank ( Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social or BNDES) and concluded in June 2022, with a market capitalisation of BRL29.3 billion to BRL33.7 billion. This was the first privatisation in Brazil implemented through a public offering, and the largest by value. The developments from the enactment of the 1988 Constitution to the privatisation of Eletrobras (now Axia Energia) have enabled the relevant increase in private investment in the electricity sector in Brazil, which represents the vast majority of the power gen- eration, distribution and transmission assets, and few companies involved in power production remain state-owned today.
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