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Innovative Project by Cemig in Sete Lagoas, a Mining City, Wins the Main Innovation Award in the Electric Sector on the Continent.
The mining city of Sete Lagoas, in Minas Gerais, has become an international case of innovation in the energy sector. The Energetic Company of Minas Gerais (Cemig) won first place in the CIER Innovation Award 2025, one of the highest honors in the sector in Latin America. The recognition came in the category of “Decentralization”, surpassing 107 competing projects, as detailed by the Mercado Comum portal.
According to Cemig, the winning project focuses on the “Active Compensator”, a power engineering technology developed to solve one of the greatest challenges of the energy transition: the instability caused by the high penetration of Distributed Generation (DG), such as solar energy. The innovation, practically tested in Sete Lagoas, positions Minas Gerais at the forefront of smart grids.
The “Active Compensator”: the Award-Winning Innovation by Cemig
The project that secured 1st place for Cemig is a R&D regulated by ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency), focused on a power electronics device. As detailed by Cemig, the “Active Compensator” functions as a dynamical stabilizer for the medium voltage network. Its purpose is to inject or absorb reactive power in a controlled and rapid manner, correcting voltage deviations and harmonics.
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The need for this equipment is strategic. With the increase in solar energy (DG), the grid suffers from variable energy injections, causing overvoltages. Cemig points out that the main benefit of the compensator is the reduction of financial losses resulting from compensations paid to customers for these overvoltages. Furthermore, the project was highlighted for developing a nationalized equipment, reducing dependence on external suppliers and lowering maintenance costs.
Sete Lagoas: The Real Laboratory of the “City of the Future”
The success of the Active Compensator did not arise from a vacuum. It is the result of a long-term investment in the mining city of Sete Lagoas, which served as a real-scale laboratory. The pilot project, nicknamed “City of the Future”, transformed the municipality into a testing center to validate new Smart Grid solutions.
The initiative in Sete Lagoas was robust, involving the installation of 95,000 smart meters (AMI), covering all consumers in the municipality. These meters allow Cemig to perform readings, disconnections, and reconnections remotely, reducing problem resolution time from hours to minutes. For customers, the benefit is daily monitoring of consumption through apps, such as Cemig Cliente +, allowing greater control of the bill.
The Critical Innovation in Communication: The Synergic Network
An intelligent network does not operate without robust, real-time data communication. To operate the 95,000 meters and, in the future, the active compensators, Cemig needed a secure, high-speed communication backbone. The solution was developed in partnership with CPqD (Center for Research and Development in Telecommunications).
The technology created by CPqD is called the “Synergic Network”. It is an innovation that utilizes a single metal conductor cable that incorporates fiber optic in its core. This structure allows for the simultaneous transmission of electrical energy and broadband data. It was this high-speed private network in Sete Lagoas that technically enabled the dynamic and reliable operation of new automation technologies.
The Strategic Impact: From Decentralization to Digitalization
The recognition of Cemig in the CIER 2025 Award was broad, reflecting an integrated strategy. As reported by Mercado Comum, the competition in the Decentralization category, won by the company, was fierce and validated by experts from different countries.
In addition to 1st place with the Active Compensator, Cemig was also recognized in the “Digitalization” category (with the Smart EPI project) and obtained third place in “Decarbonization” (with the Mobile Bess – Plug & Play, a battery system). This triple recognition consolidates the mining city and the state as leaders in solutions that integrate the three pillars of the energy of the future.
Do you agree with this change? Do you think it impacts the market? Leave your opinion in the comments, we want to hear from those living this in practice.
A Cemig deveria preocupar com interior, como cidade de Ipanema, Pocrane e outros municípios, ficam grande tempo sem energia, será que não contabilizam o TMA, tempo médio de atendimento ? , cliente sofre!