Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy said a major transmission line linking Maranhão, in the country's Northeast, to Goiás, in the Center-West, will begin operating two years earlier than planned. The project is now scheduled for March 2028 instead of 2030, according to single-source reporting from CNN Brasil.
The line is expected to release about 5 gigawatts of capacity into the National Interconnected System (SIN), Brazil's main power grid. It is one of the infrastructure projects aimed at moving renewable electricity produced in the Northeast to the country's largest consuming regions.
The Project
The project was auctioned in 2023 and awarded to State Grid, the Chinese power company. CNN Brasil reported that it involves more than R$18 billion in investment, roughly USD 3.3 billion at recent exchange rates as an approximate conversion.
The new timetable was presented on Thursday, July 16, by Sun Tao, chairman of State Grid's board, to Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira at the ministry's headquarters.
The 800-kilovolt high-voltage direct current line, known as HVDC technology, will run for about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles). It will connect the Graça Aranha substation in Maranhão to the Silvânia substation in Goiás, crossing Tocantins on the way.
HVDC systems are used to carry large blocks of electricity across long distances. In this case, the line is meant to expand power exchanges among Brazil's Northeast, Center-West and Southeast regions.
Why It Matters
Brazil has rapidly expanded renewable generation in the Northeast, especially from wind and solar sources. But part of that electricity cannot be used because the transmission network lacks enough capacity to move the surplus to other regions.
When the system cannot absorb that production, the National Electric System Operator (ONS), the body that coordinates Brazil's grid dispatch, orders generators to reduce output. The industry term for that forced reduction is curtailment.
The new line is intended to reduce that bottleneck by increasing the flow of renewable power from the Northeast to major load centers. The ministry also said the project will connect the system to substations in Presidente Dutra, Teresina, Samambaia, Itumbiara and Emborcação.
"We are talking about a project with 5 GW of transmission capacity, which will expand energy exchange between the country's regions, increase the operational flexibility of the SIN and allow better use of renewable generation produced in the Northeast," Silveira said in a statement cited by CNN Brasil.
Grid Flexibility
The ministry also linked the project to Brazil's planned first auction for battery storage systems, expected at the end of the year. Transmission lines move electricity from where it is produced to where it is consumed; batteries add flexibility by storing power and releasing it when the grid needs it most.
Together, the two approaches point to a broader challenge in Brazil's power system. The country has large renewable resources, but using them efficiently depends on transmission capacity, storage and coordination across a grid that spans continental distances.