Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) estimates that it could make up to R$ 34 billion available in incentive-backed financing lines to support projects in Brazil's first battery auction, scheduled for December, although it anticipates that the volume will not be sufficient to meet the market's capital needs on its own.
The preliminary estimate includes resources from the Climate Fund and the BNDES Mais Inovação program , explained Alexandre Siciliano Esposito, head of the bank's energy transition and climate department.
The final amount has not yet been determined. BNDES expects to have a more precise figure by the end of this year, as discussions related to the 2027 budget progress.
Within this framework, the Climate Fund emerges as the main tool for financing BESS systems , due to the conditions it offers for projects linked to energy transition and decarbonization.
“The Climate Fund has much greater potential for use. Energy storage systems perform better than other renewable technologies. Therefore, it should be the primary instrument,” Esposito argued.
However, the bank warns that the scale of the projects already being analyzed by the sector will require supplementing these lines with other sources.
One of the main constraints is the Climate Fund's limit of R$ 1 billion in financing per economic group every 12 months .
According to Esposito, there are clients evaluating portfolios worth several billion reais in anticipation of the auction, so this ceiling forces the structuring of combined schemes.
“There are clients studying portfolios worth billions of reais. This R$ 1 billion limit guides the strategy of combinations; they have to look for more sources of financing, the market, bonds, multilateral funds, among others,” he noted.
BNDES Mais Inovação could function as another alternative, although it is a more transversal line that includes different types of innovation and digitization and has a smaller budget.
The financial discussion gains importance given the scale of interest reached by Brazil's first BESS call.
In total, 6091 projects were registered for 296.8 GW , a figure much higher than the volume that could finally be contracted and which will have to go through technical filters, particularly due to the capacity available on the network.
The market is currently working with a potential allocation reference of between 2 and 5 GW , equivalent to about 8 to 20 GWh , considering that the projects must have four hours of storage.
Financing and local manufacturing are part of the same equation
BNDES is also working with battery suppliers to increase the national content of projects participating in the auctions.
The call for proposals includes a specific process for locally manufactured systems, which adds another variable to the market's financial and industrial strategy.
According to information from the bank itself, WEG, Moura, You.On, TBEA, Gotion, Trina and BYD have already expressed commitments related to the local manufacturing of storage systems.
These companies will still need to complete technical procedures to prove that their products meet the required national content requirements.
The move comes as dozens of manufacturers are analyzing different production facility options in Brazil, anticipating that the first BESS tender will open the door to future rounds.
Participating projects must exceed 30 MW and have four hours of storage capacity .
Capacity delivery will begin on August 1, 2028 , with 15-year contracts for the successful bidders.
The remuneration scheme will be based on a Fixed Annual Prescription , paid in 12 monthly installments and updated by IPCA, which will give the winners a long-term income reference.
With almost 297 GW registered against a much lower potential contracting volume, competition will be fierce. But the challenge won't end with the awarding of the contracts.
The next stage will be to finance the construction of the selected projects, and at that point, BNDES itself acknowledges that the up to R$ 34 billion in incentivized lines of credit will need to be complemented with private capital, debt markets, and multilateral organizations to meet the scale that Brazil's first wave of batteries could reach.