The volume traded in long-term contracts and self-production of solar and wind energy in the Free Energy Market reached a record in 2025, consolidating a new phase of maturity and sophistication in the ACL (Free Contracting Environment).
This conclusion comes from a report by the consulting firm CELA (Clean Energy Latin America), which counted 40 contracts signed throughout the year in Brazil, totaling an average of 1.2 GW negotiated and 4,2 GW of installed capacity in the projects.
The result represents an 83% increase compared to 2024, when an average of 659 MW was contracted across 31 agreements, with 2,3 GW of installed capacity.
In the historical series, the survey maps 214 contracts over a decade, equivalent to an average of 6,04 GW of energy traded and 21,8 GW of associated installed capacity. During this period, the financial volume transacted reached approximately R$ 88,8 billion.
According to CELA, the main structural change in recent years has been the consolidation of self-generation of energy as the dominant model in the ACL (Free Contracting Environment).
This modality already represents 62% of the historical volume analyzed and accounted for 100% of the energy traded in the last cycle of the sample, indicating the transition from traditional PPA models to more sophisticated and customized structures.
On the demand side, the study points to the consolidation of new consumption drivers. Data centers are already among the main offtakers, reinforcing the leading role of more intensive and technically demanding workloads in the growth of the free market.
Another highlight is the increasing sophistication of contracts. By 2025, 41% of the energy traded was negotiated in dollars, reflecting the coexistence of contracts indexed to the IPCA (National Consumer Price Index) and more complex structures linked to foreign currency.
According to Camila Ramos, CEO of CELA, the data shows that ACL has moved beyond competing solely on price and has begun to differentiate itself through its ability to structure solutions that meet consumer demands.
“The ACL has matured significantly in recent years. The major change has not only been the growth in the number of contracts, but the transformation of the product being negotiated itself. Self-production has become established as a competitive standard, demand has become more sophisticated, and issues such as delivery profile, operational risk, curtailment, currency, and structure have come to occupy the center of negotiations,” he states.
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