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Brazil links Scala Data Centers' AI City

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13:06UTC

Brazil's electricity regulator authorised Scala Data Centers to connect its AI City campus in Rio Grande do Sul to the national grid, with 120 MW due from January 2028.

← Back to Brazil bill ties tax break to a water cap Jump to analysis ↓

IndustryAssessed

Key takeaway

Scala Data Centers' AI City is due to draw 120 MW from Brazil's grid from January 2028.

Brazil's electricity regulator, the Agencia Nacional de Energia Eletrica (Aneel), authorised Scala Data Centers to connect its AI City campus at Eldorado do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, to the national transmission grid⁠¹. The order, Despacho 3.506, is dated 3 September and became public in the official gazette, the Diario Oficial da Uniao, on 10 September. It feeds the site through a cut into the 525 kV Guaiba 3 to Nova Santa Rita line.

The national grid operator's access opinion sets the connection for January 2028 at 120 MW, according to Telesintese⁠². The despacho itself carries no megawatt figure.

The authorisation became public five days before President Lula signed Redata, the tax break the Senate had passed on 1 September. AI City now has a route onto the grid in the same month Brazil fixed the tax terms for qualifying data-centre builds.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Brazil's electricity regulator Aneel formally approved Scala Data Centers' plan to connect its 'AI City' campus in Eldorado do Sul to the national power grid. The approved connection is for 120 megawatts starting in January 2028. The regulator's decision was dated 3 September but only became public when published in Brazil's official gazette on 10 September, which is the date that counts for when outsiders could first confirm the approval.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Aneel's approval is a single, confirmed connection for 120 MW from January 2028, distinct from any larger multi-gigawatt figure sometimes attached to Scala's wider campus plans.

Treating only the authorised figure as fact, rather than developer projections, matters because Brazil's data-centre coverage this fortnight has already had to correct one overstated figure in Lei 15.504's own passage.

Sources:Diario Oficial da Uniao·Telesintese

Mentions:Eldorado do Sul →Redata →Brazil →Lula →Rio Grande do Sul →Agencia Nacional de Energia Eletrica (ANEEL) →Scala Data Centers →Diário Oficial da União →Scala AI City →

First Reported In

Update #15 · Texas freezes data-centre permits

Diario Oficial da Uniao· 24 Sept 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Lula signs Redata law with water cap

Redata's tax relief and Scala's cleared grid connection landed in the same week, both easing Brazil's build-out.

Occurred 15 Sept 2026

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This Event

Brazil links Scala Data Centers' AI City

Scala Data Centers now holds regulatory permission to connect AI City to Brazil's transmission grid, the step that comes before any power reaches the site.

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