en.Wedoany.com Reported - Minas Gerais is advancing a plan to attract data center investments. The State Secretariat for Economic Development of Minas Gerais (Secretaria de Estado de Desenvolvimento Econômico, Sede-MG), through its investment promotion agency Invest Minas, is collaborating with the Energy Company of Minas Gerais (Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais, Cemig) on technical studies to assess whether the state's power infrastructure can meet the demands of large-scale digital economy projects.

Cemig recently analyzed whether power supply across the state can meet demand for projects requiring up to 100 megawatts. The mapping results show that the Triângulo Mineiro, Centro-Oeste, Zona da Mata, and the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte, RMBH) have conditions to meet this demand level. The survey also considered factors such as power system connection capacity, telecommunications infrastructure, geographic location, and distance to major consumer markets.

Mila Côrrea da Costa, Secretary of State for Economic Development of Minas Gerais, stated that the digital economy requires infrastructure, planning, and coordination across different sectors. She said these studies enable the state government to identify regions capable of hosting data center projects and guide public policies based on technical criteria and the potential of each area. Larissa Batista, Manager of the Consumer Goods, Trade, Services, Life Sciences, and Software sector at Invest Minas, emphasized that the study is a key part of the state government's strategy to position Minas Gerais as a leading player in this field in Brazil. She noted that the strategy combines market intelligence and planning, and now investors can be shown Minas Gerais's potential based on technical studies that have identified prepared regions. She believes this reduces uncertainty, increases competitiveness, and enhances the state's ability to attract investment.

Cemig's study continues the work of Invest Minas, which released the "Data Center Investment Thesis" in 2025. The goal is to integrate a state-level policy for the data center market, covering energy, financing, infrastructure, innovation, and economic development. In addition to energy infrastructure, the study considered the state's geographic location, a power matrix dominated by renewable energy, a qualified labor pool, existing financing channels, and the performance of state-level agencies involved in project implementation.