How big is Brazil's transmission network?

OverWatts maps 160,000 km of transmission line in Brazil, across 3,116 segments, plus 229 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.

What voltage is Brazil's grid?

Most of the mapped network is extra-high voltage (380–764 kV): 81,600 km of 160,000 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 800 kV.

How complete is the grid map for Brazil?

Moderate — 18.7 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 53% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.

Who operates the grid in Brazil?

Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco, CTEEP, CHESF - Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco and 5 others are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 50% of Brazil's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.

What interconnectors connect Brazil to its neighbours?

11,828 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

Brazil · electricity network

Brazil power grid

OverWatts maps 160,000 km of Brazil's electricity transmission network across 3,116 line segments and 229 substations, the 5th most-mapped grid of 153 countries. Its backbone is extra-high voltage (380–764 kV), carrying 81,600 km — 51% of the mapped length, with the highest tagged voltage at 800 kV. That works out to 18.7 km per 1,000 km² of land — moderate OpenStreetMap coverage, ahead of 53% of mapped countries. It is connected to 4 neighbouring grids by 11,828 MW of existing cross-border transfer capacity.

Open the grid lens →Brazil profile →

160,000 km

Mapped transmission line

229

Substations

of 153 mapped grids

11.8 GW

cross-border · 4 neighbours

800 kV

Highest voltage

OpenStreetMap coverage

Moderate18.7 km / 1,000 km²ahead of 53% of 153 mapped countries

This grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn Brazil's network — not how much network exists. Large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone, and every kilometre here is mapped length, so the totals are a floor rather than an operator-reported figure. 3% of segments carry a real line name and 50% an operator tag.

Mapped line length by voltage

≥765 kV7,163 km 4%
380–764 kV81,600 km 51%
220–379 kV70,600 km 44%
Voltage untagged639 km 0%

3,116 segments · a segment is credited to the country containing its midpoint, so a border-crossing line counts once, on one side.

Cross-border links from Brazil

Paraguay8.8 GW
Argentina2.3 GW
Uruguay570 MW
Venezuela231 MW

11.8 GW existing · capacities from the Global Transmission Database v0.1 (CC BY 4.0), existing as of 2023

On the interactive map

Open the interactive map →

Load against the network

187 GW

Operating generation

Data centres mapped

699

km of line per substation

18.7

km per 1,000 km²

Where there is room to connect a new load depends on published hosting capacity, which most operators release only as their own map. OverWatts does not yet ingest those feeds, so these are the density measures the open data supports — generation and mapped demand against mapped network — not a headroom figure.

Segment counts from OSM `operator` tags, merged across spellings. Present on 50% of segments — this ranks who is recorded, not market share.

How Brazil compares · mapped grid by country

1. People's Republic of China624,300 km
3. United States of America239,100 km
4. Russia165,600 km
5. Brazil160,000 km
6. Canada72,900 km
7. Mexico42,400 km

Frequently asked

How big is Brazil's transmission network?: OverWatts maps 160,000 km of transmission line in Brazil, across 3,116 segments, plus 229 substations. This is mapped length from OpenStreetMap, not an operator-reported total — where OSM is incomplete the figure is a floor, never a ceiling.
What voltage is Brazil's grid?: Most of the mapped network is extra-high voltage (380–764 kV): 81,600 km of 160,000 km. The highest voltage tagged anywhere in the country is 800 kV.
How complete is the grid map for Brazil?: Moderate — 18.7 km of mapped line per 1,000 km² of land, ahead of 53% of the 153 countries with any mapped grid. Coverage grades how completely OpenStreetMap has drawn the network, not how much network exists; large, sparsely-populated countries score low for geographic reasons alone.
Who operates the grid in Brazil?: Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco, CTEEP, CHESF - Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco and 5 others are tagged as operators on mapped segments. Operator tags are present on 50% of Brazil's segments, so this ranks who is *recorded*, not market share.
What interconnectors connect Brazil to its neighbours?: 11,828 MW of cross-border transfer capacity to Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela. Capacities are from the Global Transmission Database (v1.0, 2023).

Elsewhere in Brazil

Transmission lines Substations Power plants Data centres

Network geometry: OpenStreetMap (ODbL) © OpenStreetMap contributors, ingested and measured by OverWatts · derived 2026-07-26. Counts every mapped line of 220 kV and above; the map layer draws the ≥380 kV backbone only, so it shows less than is measured here.