Entry · Expansion
EPE: Energy Research Office
Who performs the studies that support energy sector planning?
In one sentence
Public company linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, whose purpose is to provide services in studies and research intended to support energy sector planning.
Real example
359 GWNature of the data: Scenario
Dec 2035 · national electricity mix (includes MMGD, batteries and demand response)
Source: EPE, Plano Decenal de Expansão de Energia 2035. Reference up to Dec 2035. Captured on Sep 30, 2026.
A planning figure that the EPE publishes: national installed capacity in 2035 in the Reference Scenario of the Ten-Year Energy Expansion Plan. It is a scenario, not a forecast.
Scenario: Simulation conditional on a declared hypothesis. It is not a forecast.
Why it matters
Not to be confused with
ONS (National Electric System Operator)
The EPE provides studies and research services that support energy sector planning, among them the expansion plans for generation and transmission; the ONS coordinates and controls the operation of the interconnected system and plans that operation. Planning the expansion of the sector and planning the operation of the system are different tasks.
What cannot be concluded
- The EPE bylaws and the plans it publishes, such as the Ten-Year Energy Expansion Plan, were not read for this entry: it describes only what the founding law says.
- The law lists other powers besides those cited, such as studies on oil, natural gas and energy efficiency (art. 4).
Related entries
See in the panel
Official source
Presidency of the RepublicLaw No. 10.847 of Mar 15, 2004, arts. 1 and 2 (consolidated text published by Planalto, read on Oct 9, 2026)
In other words: the law authorized the Executive Branch to create the EPE as a public company linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, to provide studies and research services that support energy sector planning, in areas such as electricity, oil, natural gas, coal, renewable sources and energy efficiency.
Literal excerpt from the document
Portuguese only“Art. 1º Fica o Poder Executivo autorizado a criar empresa pública, [...] denominada Empresa de Pesquisa Energética - EPE, vinculada ao Ministério de Minas e Energia. [...] Art. 2º A Empresa de Pesquisa Energética - EPE tem por finalidade prestar serviços na área de estudos e pesquisas destinadas a subsidiar o planejamento do setor energético, tais como energia elétrica, petróleo e gás natural e seus derivados, carvão mineral, fontes energéticas renováveis e eficiência energética, dentre outras.”
Presidency of the RepublicLaw No. 10.847 of Mar 15, 2004, art. 4, items I, II and VII (consolidated text published by Planalto, read on Oct 9, 2026)
In other words: the EPE is responsible for studies and projections of the energy matrix, publishing the national energy balance and preparing the studies for the short, medium and long-term expansion plans of electricity generation and transmission.
Literal excerpt from the document
Portuguese only“Art. 4º Compete à EPE: I - realizar estudos e projeções da matriz energética brasileira; II - elaborar e publicar o balanço energético nacional; [...] VII - elaborar estudos necessários para o desenvolvimento dos planos de expansão da geração e transmissão de energia elétrica de curto, médio e longo prazos;”
Documents accessed and text checked on Oct 9, 2026.
Check details
What the check found in the source
- Law read on Planalto on Oct 9, 2026, in the text Planalto publishes with later amendments.
- The versioned capture of each document, with the sha256 of the original and of the text, is in the manifest of the Learn documents folder of Oct 9, 2026.