ISA ENERGIA BRASIL is a publicly held company incorporated on February 4, 1999 as a result of the partial spin-off of Companhia Energética de São Paulo (“CESP”) as part of the State Privatization Program created by Law 9,361/96 of the state of São Paulo. In April 1999, the Company started operating as a public electricity transmission concessionaire.
In June 2001, it absorbed Empresa Paulista de Transmissão de Energia Elétrica S.A. (“EPTE”), company that resulted from the partial spin-off of Eletropaulo - Eletricidade de São Paulo S.A. (“Eletropaulo”). In addition, the Company and the Brazilian government signed Electricity Transmission Concession Agreement 059/01 (“Concession Agreement 059/01”) for the concession of public electricity transmission services, including the basic network and other transmission facilities. The same year, the term of the agreement was extended by 30 years to 2042. Also in 2001, the Company merged with EPTE, a company resulting from the partial spin-off of Eletropaulo.
At a privatization auction held in 2006 at BM&FBOVESPA S.A. - Bolsa de Valores, Mercadorias e Futuros (currently B3 S.A. – Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão), the São Paulo state government, the controlling shareholder, sold 31,341,890,064 common shares held by it, corresponding to 50.10% of the common shares issued by the Company. The winner of the auction that day was Interconexión Eléctrica S.A.E.S.P (“ISA”) which, consequently, became the direct parent company of the Company.
Due to the acquisition of controlling interest in the Company by ISA Capital do Brasil S.A., amendments to the Concession Agreements were executed to reflect the new controlling shareholder.
On September 12, 2006, ISA Capital do Brasil S.A. acquired from the São Paulo state government an additional 10,021,687 common shares issued by the Company, consequently holding 31,351,911,751 common shares, corresponding to 50.12% of total common shares.
In January 2007, ISA Capital do Brasil S.A. acquired, via auction of a public tender offer held at the BM&FBOVESPA (currently B3), 24,572,554,070 common shares issued by the Company, corresponding to 39.28% of total common shares. As a result, ISA Capital do Brasil S.A. held 89.40% of the voting capital and 37.46% of the total capital of the Company.
In November 2007, the Company participated in a public auction held by ANEEL and won the transmission lot that connects the states of Tocantins, Maranhão and Piauí, comprising 720 km of lines and investments of R$533.6 million.
On February 11, 2008, the Board of Directors of the Company approved a corporate restructuring ratified by the shareholders at the Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting held on February 28, 2008, to improve the Company’s capitalization conditions and cash flow by using a tax benefit of the Company in the amount of R$232,000 thousand, related to the premium paid by ISA Capital do Brasil S.A. during the acquisition of controlling interest in the Company.
Since 2008, the Company has been consolidating its presence in Brazil’s energy sector by participating in auctions held by ANEEL, in which it won lots pertaining to transmission assets.
In July 2008, the Company incorporated IE Pinheiros to operate the concession of transmission lines and substations won in Lots E, H and K of Auction 004/2008 and Lot K of Auction 004/2011 of ANEEL.
In December 2008, the Company, in partnership with Furnas and CHESF, incorporated IE Madeira to operate the concession of transmission lines and substations won in Lots D and F of ANEEL Auction 007/2008. This project is part of the Rio da Madeira hydroelectric complex and its transmission system was designed and installed using the Direct Current technology, used for high voltage and long distance transmissions. Previously, this technology was used in Brazil only in the transmission of energy generated by the Itaipu Plant.
The Company incorporated the subsidiary Serra do Japi on July 1, 2009, to operate the concession of substations Jandira and Salto, won in Lot I of ANEEL Auction 001/2009. In 2012, Serra do Japi started commercial operations.
In October 2011, the Company, in partnership with CHESF, incorporated IE Garanhuns to operate the concession of transmission lines and substations won in Lot L of ANEEL Auction 004/2011.
In December 2012, ISA ENERGIA BRASIL concluded the acquisition of the subsidiary Evrecy, owned by EDP Energias do Brasil S.A. (EDP). Evrecy is a provider of electricity transmission services originated from the spin-off of energy generation and transmission assets of Espírito Santo Centrais Elétricas (Escelsa) in 2005. It owns 154 km of transmission lines and a substation in the states of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. The concession agreement expires on July 17, 2025.
In September 2012, Provisional Presidential Decree 579 (MP 579) was published regulating the extension of power generation, transmission and distribution concession agreements covered by Law 9,074, of 1995. Under the terms of MP 579, power generation, transmission and distribution concessions that expired or would expire in the 60 months subsequent to the publication could be extended, at the discretion of the concession authority, only once for up to 30 years. However, for the transmission activity, said extension would depend, among other things, on express acceptance of the following conditions: (i) revenue set in accordance with ANEEL criteria; and (ii) compliance with the service quality standards defined by ANEEL. For more details on MP 579, click here.
In 2015, the receipt of the indemnity portions related to the installations energized as from June 1, 2000 named Basic Network – New Installations (RBNI) was concluded.
On April 20, 2016, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) issued Ordinance 120, which determined that the amounts approved by ANEEL via Order 4,036/2015 for SE installations be included in the Regulatory Remuneration Base of electricity transmission concessionaires as from the 2017 tariff process for an estimated period of eight years.
On October 6, 2016, ANEEL issued Technical Note 336/2016, which presented the proposed regulation for MME Ordinance 120/2016. With the outcome of the Public Hearing, Technical Note 23/2017 was issued, regulating the methodology for calculating the cost of capital and RAP to be added in connection with the value of SE installations, and determining the amounts and deadlines for payment by concessionaires. For more details on the RBSE, click here.
The Company won three lots, two in partnership with Taesa, at the transmission auction held in October 2016. ANEEL investment adjusted by ISA ENERGIA BRASIL’s interest in the lots is R$723,175 thousand, with RAP (23/24 cycle) of R$179,670 thousand.
The Company won five more lots, one of them in partnership with Taesa, at the transmission auction held in April 2017. ANEEL investment adjusted by ISA ENERGIA BRASIL’s interest in the lots is R$2,228,290 thousand, with RAP (23/24 cycle) of R$353,372 thousand.
On May 30, 2017, ANEEL issued Order 1,484/17, recognizing R$4,094 million as the total value of the assets on the baseline date of December 31, 2012. The initial impact of the Basic Network – Existing System (RBSE) amounts was booked in September 2016, while the additional amount recognized by ANEEL was booked in the second quarter of 2017. The receipt of these funds, which started in 2017, is key to maintain the quality of services provided to society and to sustain the Company’s growth.
2017 was also marked by the conclusion of the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Interligação Elétrica Norte e Nordeste (IENNE), with 50% of them acquired by Isolux Energia e Participações S.A. (ISOLUX) and 25% by Cymi Holdings (CYMI), for R$101.1 million, as well as by winning bids at the transmission auctions held by ANEEL.
In line with its expansion strategy, in 2018 the Company acquired, from Cymi Holdings (CYMI), 50% minus one share of the capital stock of Interligação Elétrica Sul S.A. (IESUL) for R$20.1 million, now holding 100% of IESUL’s capital. In June 2018, the Company won two lots at the transmission auction 02/2018 held by ANEEL.
At the Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting held on April 4, 2019, the shareholders approved the proposed split of the Company's shares at the ratio of 1 common share for 4 common shares and 1 preferred share for 4 preferred shares. The stock split did not imply any change in the Company’s capital stock, which remains R$3.6 billion.
In 2019, the Company won other three lots at the transmission auction held in December.
In 2020, the Company continued to grow and announced the acquisition of Piratininga Bandeirantes Transmissora de Energia (PBTE), which connects two substations of ISA ENERGIA BRASIL, at the acquisition price R$1,594,000 thousand, considering net debt estimated at R$292,000 million at December 31, 2020. The same year, the Company won one more lot at the December auction.
In 2021, two projects won in transmission auctions held by ANEEL were energized - IE Aguapeí and Lorena Substation. The importance of Lorena Substation for the progress of digitization of the energy sector is worth noting as it is the first digital substation of the National Interconnected System. Another milestone in innovation for both the Company and the sector was the approval received from ANEEL for the first project to store energy in batteries on a large scale in Brazil’s transmission system. The acquisition of PBTE was also concluded in 2021.
In 2021, the Ministry of Finance of Colombia announced the execution of a government procurement agreement with Ecopetrol S.A. for the acquisition of 51.4% of the shares held by the government in ISA, the parent company of ISA Capital do Brasil, which is the direct controlling shareholder of ISA ENERGIA BRASIL. The transaction does not involve any exchange of indirect ownership control, since the seller also controls Ecopetrol S.A.
In 2022, ISA ENERGIA BRASIL energized five other projects won at ANEEL auctions, adding more than 1,210 km of lines and revenue of over R$364,749 thousand (RAP 24/25 cycle). One of the technological highlights is IE Biguaçu, a pioneering project and the only one in Brazil that uses transmission lines with overhead, submarine and underground stretches. This concession is crucial to enhance energy supply to the island of Florianópolis, the capital city of Santa Catarina.
In 2022, the Company also inaugurated Brazil’s first bank of batteries to store energy on a large scale. The project, installed at the Registro Substation in São Paulo, increased energy supply to meet growing demand for energy in the state’s coastal region. It also avoided the emission of more than 1,000 thousand tons of carbon, which would have been emitted if diesel generators had instead been installed.
In 2022, the Company won two other lots at the transmission auction held in June, with RAP (24/25 cycle) of R$341,086 thousand.
In 2023, ISA ENERGIA BRASIL won three other lots at the transmission auction held in June, which together added RAP (24/25 cycle) of R$549,227 thousand and represent ANEEL investment of R$5.6 billion in the national electricity system, consolidating the Company’s growth cycle. As a result, the Company now has 35 concession agreements, with the longest of them expiring in September 2053. The 19 lots won by the Company at the auctions held between 2016 and 2022 represent an ANEEL investment commitment of R$15,784,706 thousand in the National Electricity System.
In 2023, ISA ENERGIA BRASIL also partially energized two other projects which jointly have RAP of R$99.931 million. As a result, the Company achieved 35% of average efficiency in relation to ANEEL investment and managed to anticipate, by seven months on average, the energization of projects won at ANEEL auctions after 2016 and which are held 100% by ISA ENERGIA BRASIL.
In 2024, ISA ENERGIA BRASIL was responsible for developing the first project with FACTS technology, of the Smart Valves type, in the national electrical system. This is a new technology in Brazil that generates greater flexibility and stability to the transmission system, by redirecting the flow of energy from overloaded circuits to the idlest ones, avoiding the need for conventional works, such as reconstruction of transmission lines.
In 2024, ISA ENERGIA BRASIL energized Minuano project that has a RAP of R$50.2 million (24/25 cycle).
For more details, see item 1.1 Issuer History in our Reference Form.
Updated on February 24, 2025.