{
  "id": 14168468,
  "title": "Novas regras para o curtailment: quem ganha e quem perde?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/novas-regras-para-o-curtailment-quem-ganha-e-quem-perde",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-13T09:50:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Brazil Journal",
    "slug": "brazil-journal",
    "url": "https://braziljournal.com/novas-regras-para-o-curtailment-quem-ganha-e-quem-perde"
  },
  "original_language": "pt",
  "account": "Regulations for curtailment in Brazil's electricity sector have sparked a new dispute. The National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) has approved a rule that treats curtailment of renewables as equal to restrictions on some hydropower generation. This change in the order of disconnection for power plants when there is excess energy in the system and how the resulting losses are distributed. During overproduction, non-reservoir hydropower plants or those already with full reservoirs spill water downstream without generating energy, known as 'vertimento turbinável'. Previously, such vertiments were prioritized over curtailments of wind and solar energy. Aneel now aims to treat all sources equally in the \"queue\". Additionally, there will be a share out of the financial impacts of restrictions. Renewable energy investors opposed the proposal, which will be implemented gradually and tested first through \"shadow\" simulations to understand its effective impacts. Elbia Gannoum, president of the Brazilian Wind Energy Association, said that hydroelectric plants could be cut first without sharing their losses, as they already have a separate mechanism for energy generation frustration sharing, the Mechanism for Energy Reallocation (MRE). \"It might seem like a dispute between generators to decide who bears the cost, but it's more than that, it's about isonomia. They can't be put together with wind and solar without any risk protection,\" Gannoum said. Consulting firm Volt Robotics estimates that wind and solar curtailments caused losses of R$ 6.5 billion in 2025. AXIA, on the other hand, estimates that vertimentos turbináveis resulted in a revenue shortfall of R$ 3.7 billion in 2023 - but the figure is misleading because energy prices were at their floor at the time, so the impact is much larger now. The company wrote in its consultation to Aneel about the regulation that the criteria for curtailment should fairly affect all sources, not transfer this burden to hydropower. The decision was seen as a win for hydropower generators, though not expected to have a material effect on individual companies' results. For hydropower, the impact is small; for renewables, which might have hoped for salvation, it is not good. Analysts say the impact on AXIA Energia and Engie is positive but marginal, not substantial. The main beneficiary is expected to be AXIA Energia, followed by Engie. The impact for AXIA is positive but marginal, not substantial. For renewables, the impact is low but not negligible, according to another analyst of utilities, citing Auren as one of the negatively affected entities with many wind and solar assets. The biggest victory, however, went to an entity that was not affected by the regulation. Solar energy investors in distributed generation - solar panels on roofs or micro-hydropower - will have no change in their operations, even after pressure from all sides to share curtailment losses with the sector. Aneel admits that the accelerated growth of distributed generation has amplified the excess generation problem, but evaluated that the discussion at the first stage involved only assets under the National System Operator's (ONS) management, which does not include distributed generation systems. The agency and ONS are already conducting studies on how distributors could restrict distributed generation generation when necessary. In the meantime, the period of \"shadow\" tests of the new curtailment rules should start within 180 days and last for a year - meaning the new systematic curtailment system should only come into effect sometime in 2028. When that happens, financial sharing among sources will also begin, with wind and solar fully integrating after testing, while hydropower volumes will have a gradual entry, with 25% of the curtailed volume introduced each cycle, with full shareout being achieved in four years.",
  "summary": "Os cortes forçados na geração de usinas eólicas e solares que se tornaram o principal problema do setor elétrico viraram alvo de uma nova disputa. A Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (Aneel) acaba de aprovar uma regulamentação que iguala o curtailment das renováveis ao tratamento dado às restrições na geração de algumas hidrelétricas.",
  "key_points": [
    "Aneel approved new curtailment regulations treating renewables equally with some hydropower",
    "Financial impacts of restrictions to be shared among sources, not just hydropower",
    "New rules to start testing in 180 days, fully implemented by 2028"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}