Ceará passes pioneering data‑center and battery‑storage regulatory framework

The Ceará state legislature approved Bill 69/26 on 14 July 2026, creating a regulatory regime for data‑center facilities and battery‑energy storage systems. The vote was 22 in favour and six against. The law seeks to streamline licensing, classifying data centers as high‑pollution‑potential activities and assigning environmental approval steps by project size – municipal for micro‑centers, two‑stage for small‑ and medium‑scale projects, and three‑stage for large or exceptional installations.

The legislation coincides with major private investment, notably the OMNIA Data Centers megaproject in partnership with ByteDance (TikTok). Planned for Pecém, the $37.7 billion complex will deliver 200 MW of IT capacity powered entirely by clean energy from the Casa dos Ventos facility. The framework also supports expansion of the state’s digital backbone, overseen by the Ceará Information Technology Company (ETICE), which manages a 5,955‑km fiber network and intends to tender additional fiber pairs to extend connectivity for new data‑center sites across the state.