en.Wedoany.com Reported - The National Electric System Operator (ONS) activated an emergency plan for the first time over the previous weekend, implementing generation curtailment for power plants classified as Type III. This measure has drawn market attention and led some participants to initially confuse it with Micro and Mini Distributed Generation (MMGD).
Although both Type III plants and MMGD are connected to the distribution utility grid, they play different roles in the electricity sector. Type III plants, as generation and electricity trading entities, serve consumers in the free market or distribution utilities, primarily including small hydropower plants (Pequenas Centrais Hidrelétricas, PCHs) and biomass plants, typically connected to medium or high voltage grids. The MMGD category includes residential systems, small commercial, industrial, rural properties, condominiums, as well as shared generation and remote generation projects, installed by consumers to reduce electricity bills through power credit compensation.
There are also significant differences in scale between the two. Type III plants have no power limit, but project capacity is typically higher than that of MMGD. MMGD regulations stipulate that the maximum power for micro-generation is 75 kW, with a cap of 3 MW for non-dispatchable energy sources (such as solar and wind) and up to 5 MW for dispatchable sources (such as hydropower and biomass).
The ONS clarified that this emergency curtailment applies only to Type III plants and does not involve MMGD systems. The curtailment was implemented through 12 distribution utilities, including Celesc, Cemig, Neoenergia Coelba, Copel, CPFL Paulista, EDP Espírito Santo, Neoenergia Elektro, Energisa Mato Grosso, Energisa Mato Grosso do Sul, Equatorial Goiás, Neoenergia Pernambuco, and RGE, which together concentrate approximately 80% of such plants nationwide.
Although the current operation has not affected MMGD, the possibility of restricting MMGD has become part of the regulatory agenda through the Brazilian National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) Public Consultation No. 009/2026. This initiative, based on Technical Note No. 148/2025, aims to explore the physical or logical generation curtailment of MMGD systems under specific circumstances when other operational measures have been exhausted and system security may be compromised. The deadline for submitting feedback to the public consultation is June 8, after which ANEEL will analyze the comments and submit recommendations to the Board. No final decision has been made, nor have new regulations been issued.
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