São Paulo state

Brazil's data-centre boom has hit the limits of its grid in São Paulo state. When The National grid operator held the first competitive round under the new transmission-access policy, on 6 and 7 October 2026, four of the state's connection points drew 451 MW of qualified requests for 228 MW of capacity. Three data centres won it all, two of them Pahlavan's and one Digital DC Brasil's. A federal appeals judge in the same week stopped new awards at the Replan substation in Paulínia until the regulator ruled.

Requests pile up here because submarine-cable landings, fibre routes and corporate customers cluster around the capital. A handful of substations therefore carry far more demand than they can serve, while the grid has headroom elsewhere. The Redata federal tax breaks Lula signed into law in September 2026 add no wire.

With about 46.1 million people in 2025, São Paulo is Brazil's most populous state and its largest economy by nominal GDP. The city of São Paulo serves as both state capital and largest city.