Cemig Launches BRL 50 Million Solar-Plus-Storage Program for Minas Gerais Rural Properties

Cemig’s Agro Solar 24h program allocates up to BRL 50 million for solar photovoltaic systems paired with battery energy storage installations on rural properties throughout Minas Gerais state. The initiative provides a minimum 60 percent subsidy to qualifying rural customers for acquiring both solar generation equipment and storage systems, enabling producers to generate power during daylight hours and deploy stored energy during peak demand periods. The program operates under Cemig’s Energy Efficiency Program framework regulated by national grid authority Aneel, with implementation managed through the utility’s Cemig Agro division.

Applications are open to specialized companies including Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), associations, and public or private institutions capable of developing rural energy solutions. Proposals and required documentation must reach Cemig by June 26, 2026, with final selection results scheduled for August 31, 2026. Selected companies will deliver subsidized services directly to rural producers.

Thiago Batista, Cemig’s Energy Efficiency manager, identified battery storage as among the most promising technologies in energy transition, emphasizing the value for operations requiring uninterrupted power supply including irrigation, dairy production, poultry and swine operations, cold storage, and agro-industrial facilities. The storage component addresses solar generation’s fundamental limitation by decoupling production from consumption timing.

The program’s launch coincides with Brazil’s emerging solar oversupply challenges. Grid operator ONS recently activated emergency protocols to reduce generation amid excess supply and low demand, demonstrating the system’s struggle to balance high renewable output during certain periods against consumption patterns. Minas Gerais currently generates more solar power than the Itaipu hydroelectric complex produces, creating grid management complications when production exceeds real-time consumption.

The initiative positions Minas Gerais to establish distributed storage infrastructure as solar penetration increases. The state has simultaneously advanced investments in biogas from agricultural waste conversion and hydrogen production at costs reportedly lower than Chinese benchmarks, attracting Chinese corporate investment. The solar-plus-storage program extends this positioning by addressing energy autonomy and operational resilience for agricultural producers while potentially alleviating grid-level oversupply pressures through localized storage deployment.