The Legislative Assembly of Ceará approved on Tuesday (14/7) a bill that makes environmental licensing more flexible for the installation of data centers and energy storage projects in the state. Proposed by the government of Elmano de Freitas (PT), PL nº 69/2026 was approved urgently, with 22 votes in favor and only 6 against.
Ceará approves flexibility in data center licensing
The Legislative Assembly of Ceará approved on Tuesday (14/7) a bill that makes environmental licensing more flexible for the installation of data centers and energy storage projects in the state. Proposed by the government of Elmano de...
According to Diário do Nordeste, environmental activists occupied the plenary galleries to protest against the proposal, with cries of “shame” with each vote in favor of the PL. This is because the flexibility of environmental licensing for these projects ignores their environmental impacts, especially the high consumption of water for cooling data center...
- The project establishes a state policy to encourage the implementation of battery electrical energy storage systems (BESS), data centers and data processing centers in Ceará and defines...
- Enterprises classified as “micro” may be licensed directly by municipal environmental agencies.
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Voting on the project was quite tumultuous. According to Diário do Nordeste, environmental activists occupied the plenary galleries to protest against the proposal, with cries of “shame” with each vote in favor of the PL. This is because the flexibility of environmental licensing for these projects ignores their environmental impacts, especially the high consumption of water for cooling data center equipment.
The project establishes a state policy to encourage the implementation of battery electrical energy storage systems (BESS), data centers and data processing centers in Ceará and defines specific environmental licensing criteria for these activities, which will be classified according to size and polluting-degrading potential.
Enterprises classified as “micro” may be licensed directly by municipal environmental agencies. Small businesses will have their licensing in a single step. Medium, large and exceptional projects will require processes divided into two or three stages (prior license, installation and operation), under the responsibility of the State Environmental Superintendence (Semace).
A substitute amendment approved by Ceará deputies also authorizes the state government to adopt measures such as granting subsidies and tax benefits, in addition to the allocation of public areas for the installation of battery systems.
The approval of the PL by the CE Legislative Assembly went against the recommendations of the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) and the State Council for the Defense of Human Rights of Ceará (CEDDH/CE), which requested the suspension of the project. Parliamentarians against the proposal also reinforced their concern about the environmental impacts of these technological projects.
As Axis highlighted, Ceará's movement to attract large data center and battery projects occurs amid uncertainty surrounding the Brazilian sector incentive policy, Redata. In February, the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil/SP), decided not to table PL nº 278/2026, proposed by the federal government, allowing the original provisional measure to lose its validity.
Megawhat and O Povo, among others, also shared the news.