Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE) announced on November 13, 2026, a public call to gather technical information on Hydraulic Storage Systems (SAH) projects, the technical name for pumped storage hydropower plants. The material will feed energy planning studies, public policy design and the development of guidelines and rules for a future procurement of this type of project in the Brazilian power sector. Projects may be submitted until December 18, 2026. Although the focus is hydraulic, the move is of direct interest to those working with batteries, because both technologies compete for the same space: providing storage and flexibility to the system.
What EPE is requesting and how to participate
The process has two stages. First, the interested company expresses its interest by email at aege@epe.gov.br, providing the identification details of the responsible company and the names of the projects it intends to submit. After that, EPE sends a link for uploading files and a Data Sheet, in which the technical information for each project must be filled in.
EPE recommends that the documentation follow, whenever possible, the SAH Registration Instructions that the company itself makes available. The idea is to standardize the material received and allow a comparable technical characterization across projects. The state-owned company stresses, however, that the items listed in these instructions are for guidance only and describe what is expected from projects already at an advanced stage of development.
One point must be clear: the call is neither a qualification nor a registration for a future procurement process. It is an information-gathering exercise, with no associated purchase or auction commitment.
Projects at any stage and guaranteed confidentiality
The call accepts projects at different levels of maturity, including initiatives that are still preliminary. The requirement is to present a minimum set of information, such as location, basic characteristics and the stage of development.
This openness has an explicit reason. EPE wants to map what is being developed in the market, estimate the expansion potential of these plants and understand how mature the projects and their supporting studies are. The broader the sample, the more realistic the picture tends to be.
Regarding confidentiality, EPE states that it will not publish or disclose individual project data. The results may later appear in a Technical Report, with only consolidated and anonymized information, without identifying companies or projects.
Why pumped storage is back on the agenda
A pumped storage hydropower plant operates with two reservoirs at different elevations. When there is surplus, cheap energy, it pumps water to the upper reservoir; when the system needs power, the water flows down and spins the turbines. In practice, it is a large mechanical battery, capable of shifting energy over time and providing firm capacity.
This is exactly the kind of service that battery energy storage systems (BESS) also provide, with different profiles: batteries usually stand out for fast response and more modular deployment, while pumped storage plants are associated with larger construction works and longer storage durations. The topic has been gaining technical attention: in the same week as the announcement, EPE took part, in Curitiba, in a workshop on pumped storage plants in the SIN and their role in the energy transition, hosted by CIGRE-Brasil in partnership with Copel.
What this means for the Northeast
EPE's call is national and does not mention specific regions. Even so, the subject matters to those developing projects in Ceará, Piauí and Bahia. These are states where wind and solar expansion increases the need for storage to accommodate generation variability, and the rules EPE eventually designs for storage procurement are expected to define how different technologies will be compared and remunerated. For BESS developers in the region, following this debate now helps anticipate technical criteria and position projects competitively.
Our take
In our assessment, the call signals that planning now treats storage as a set of solutions rather than a single technology. We see this as positive for the battery market: a regulatory design built on real data about different alternatives tends to be more balanced. At the same time, it means BESS will not be alone in competing for storage services and will need to clearly demonstrate their advantages in lead time, modularity and location.
Much remains undefined. EPE has not indicated when or how any procurement of pumped storage plants would take place, nor whether it would happen in a dedicated process or together with other forms of storage. We also do not know whether and when the Technical Report will be published. There is also an interpretation risk: since preliminary projects are accepted, the survey may suggest greater potential than what will actually reach the implementation stage, and this could influence planning assumptions.
In the coming weeks, we will monitor the December 18, 2026 deadline and, afterwards, any sign of the release of the Technical Report with consolidated data. Further ahead, the decisive point will be the procurement guidelines and rules that EPE says it will support with this material.
What changes in practice for the BESS market
In the short term, nothing changes in the obligations of battery developers: the call is restricted to hydraulic projects and does not create new rules. The effect is strategic and deserves attention from every link in the chain:
- Developers: should follow the drafting of storage procurement rules, since pumped storage plants tend to compete for the same services. It is worth preparing technical arguments on deployment time and location flexibility.
- EPCs: should watch how technical characterization criteria evolve, as standardized documentation requirements may extend to other technologies.
- Manufacturers and suppliers: the definition of storage durations and remunerated services will influence which battery configurations will be most competitive.
- Everyone: EPE's eventual Technical Report will be a useful reference for sizing the potential competition from pumped storage plants in planning.
In short, the call is a diagnostic step, not a procurement one. But it is at this kind of stage that the foundations of future rules are laid, and those working with BESS have a direct interest in following it closely.
Original source: EPE — EPE abre Chamada para recebimento de projetos de Sistemas de Armazenamento Hidráulico (SAH)
Paulo Melo