Neoenergia Allots $599MM to Upgrade Federal District Power System

Iberdrola SA's Brazilian arm has announced BRL 3.1 billion ($598.64 million) in investment to expand and modernize the Federal District's electricity infrastructure.

The 2026-30 package, up 118 percent from the previous cycle, represents "the largest investment cycle ever undertaken in the Federal District’s electric power system", Neoenergia SA said in a press release.

The new five-year plan includes the construction and expansion of five substations, the installation of 132 kilometers (82.02 miles) of new high-voltage lines and "the reinforcement of the electrical infrastructure in various regions of the Federal District", Neoenergia said.

Neoenergia Brasília chief executive André Santos said, "These investments will expand the grid’s capacity, improve the quality of power supply and create the necessary conditions to keep pace with the economic and population growth of the federal capital".

The new program includes the recently completed Guará 2 Substation, which cost BRL 32 million. The facility adds 66.6 megavolt-amperes (mWA) of power and "directly benefits approximately 180,000 residents", Neoenergia said.

"The new systems allow us to identify and isolate faults more quickly, speeding up the restoration of power in the event of an outage. The infrastructure also helps reduce grid overloads, improve service quality and provide greater energy security for the region's development", Santos said.

According to Neoenergia, its investments over the past five years helped curb outages by 36 percent between 2021 and 2025.

Earlier Neoenergia announced a BRL 25 billion investment to upgrade the power infrastructure in the South American country's northeastern state of Bahia by 2030.

"Of this total, the Far West of Bahia - the main agricultural hub in the Northeast and the largest center-pivot irrigation region in Brazil - will concentrate a record volume of resources, which will make it possible to almost double the local energy capacity and boost Brazilian agribusiness", it said June 8.

The Far West portion includes the construction of 10 new substations, the expansion of 15 existing substations and the installation of about 3,900 kilometers of grid. "The works will add more than 822 mVA of power to the system, which represents a 93 percent increase in installed capacity compared to the current scenario, expanding service to urban consumers, agro-industry and the social and productive inclusion of small producers", it said.

Spanish power and gas utility Iberdrola expects to invest nearly BRL 50 billion through 2030 to expand its networks business in Brazil.

"This investment effort will drive the digitalization of the networks, strengthen supply quality and expand its capacity to meet growing energy demand", Iberdrola said May 8.

"The new plan almost doubles the BRL 27.5 billion invested over the last five-year period (2021-25) and ushers in a new phase of growth based on the expansion, modernization and digitalization of electricity infrastructure", Iberdrola said.

Iberdrola launched the new investment cycle for Brazil following the formalization of early renewal for three power distribution concessions in the country. Besides Neoenergia Bahia, the other two are Neoenergia Cosern (Rio Grande do Norte) and Neoenergia Elektro (São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul).

"The extensions, which run for 30 years, add to the renewal obtained in 2025 for Neoenergia Pernambuco, in force until 2060, and to the original concession for the Federal District of Brasília (Neoenergia Brasília), granted in 2021 through to 2045", Iberdrola said.

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