Eletrobras and TIM Brasil signed a broad commercial agreement with initiatives ranging from the sale of electricity to corporate customers to 5G and internet of things (IoT) technological solutions, aiming to capture business opportunities with the possible opening of the free energy market to millions of consumers by the end of the decade.
The partnership, anticipated by Reuters, will begin with the commercialization of electricity on a B2B basis by the telecommunications operator, in a move aligned with Eletrobras’ strategy of growing in the energy free contracting (ACL) environment, in which it began to operate with more strength in the last two years.
The deal occurs at a time when the free energy market is expanding to a new universe of small consumers, allowing establishments such as supermarkets and pharmacies to negotiate the input directly with suppliers, without the obligation to purchase from the local energy distributor.
This market evolution has been forcing electricity companies, accustomed to selling energy only to large industries and companies, to transform their sales forces and energy contracting conditions to access new markets and deal with different demands.
It is in this context that energy generators have sought to associate with service companies with large end customer bases, as is the case of the joint venture created between Auren and Vivo and the partnership between Comerc Energia, from Vibra, and Itaú.
Eletrobras and TIM highlighted that, this year alone, 150 thousand new consumers became able to migrate to the free market. They also cited the forecast that, by 2030, “more than 80 million consumers” will be able to access the ACL, in reference to the government’s plans to open the market to residential customers.
Consumer migrations to the free market broke records this year, with almost 21 thousand additions between January and October, three times the number recorded in the entire year 2023.
But the growth potential for the coming years is even greater, since ACL currently has less than 60 thousand consumers, compared to almost 90 million in the captive market.
With the largest mobile network in the country and the largest 5G coverage, TIM, controlled by Telecom Italia, said it will make its “broad distribution channel and different customer service solutions” available to Eletrobras, while the generator will bring its “expertise ” and “robustness in the supply of renewable energy across the country”.
Alberto Griselli, CEO of TIM Brasil, stated that the agreement reinforces the operator’s commitment to sustainable practices and has the potential to “democratize” access to the free energy market for its customers, in addition to contributing to boosting the use of renewable sources in the Brazil.
The president of Eletrobras, Ivan Monteiro, highlighted that the partnership is “in tune with Eletrobras’ objective of becoming a company completely focused on the customer, a protagonist in the commercialization of energy in the free market”, offering a commercialization ecosystem with complete solutions and “decarbonized”.
Other projects
The memorandum signed between the two companies paves the way for other projects that go beyond the sale of electrical energy, such as the exploration of technological solutions within the scope of 5G connectivity for energy generation and transmission assets and IoT solutions, such as “smart metering ” (intelligent energy measurement).
Eletrobras has been seeking to position itself in the free market, still relatively new for the company, which practically did not operate in the area before privatization in 2022.
In recent years, the generator structured its energy sales company, both for the corporate market and for the “retail” sector of the electricity sector and expanded its portfolio to more than 600 free customers.
This is an important aspect for Eletrobras amid the discounting of its hydroelectric plants, a process negotiated as part of the privatization that will release large volumes of energy for the company to sell to the market in the coming years.
