Brazil ready to launch pumped‑hydro storage projects to strengthen energy security

Brazil possesses the geographic relief, decades of hydro‑electric expertise and a domestic industrial base needed to develop large‑scale reversible pumped‑hydro storage. The technology, already mature worldwide with about 189 GW operating and over 100 GW under construction, can store surplus renewable power and release it when demand peaks. Recent regulatory steps – law No 15.269/2025 that formally recognises storage and CNPE resolutions 7 and 8 of 2026 – have created a framework for the first auctions, expected in 2027.

Marisete Dadald Pereira, president of the Associação Brasileira das Empresas Geradoras de Energia Elétrica (Abrage), says the missing piece is not technology but predictable contracts that give investors confidence. If implemented, reversible plants could provide century‑long infrastructure, create jobs and allow Brazil to meet both renewable expansion and grid stability goals.