A Minas Gerais poultry farm is running 378 kWp of solar and a 1.29 MWh battery - the 50% bill cut is an estimate, and the diesel generator stays
pv magazine Brasil reported on 22 October 2026 that Powersafe and Zipp Energia have a 1.29 MWh battery operating at Rivelli Alimentos in Carmo do Cajuru. Six Huawei cabinets are listed at 215 kWh and 108 kW each, with 378 kWp of solar on three sheds and no export to the utility. The companies estimate a cut of about 50% in the power bill and do not print the method. A sizing study puts backup near 10 hours in a hard case, and up to 27 hours if non-essential loads are off. No price is printed.
A poultry breeding farm runs on fans and climate control. A long power cut is a bird problem as well as a bill problem. Rivelli Alimentos now has a battery, solar, the grid and a diesel generator on the same site. The public note is careful about which number is a measurement and which number is a hope.
pv magazine Brasil reported on 22 October 2026 that Powersafe and Zipp Energia have put a 1.29 MWh battery into operation at the Granja de Matrizes of Rivelli Alimentos, in Carmo do Cajuru, Minas Gerais. The companies say it is the first battery storage system installed for a private customer in Minas Gerais with full approval from the distributor Cemig D. That "first" is their statement. The report does not link a Cemig page.
The battery is six Huawei LUNA2000 cabinets. Each is listed at 215 kWh, and the report prints a total of 1,290 kWh, which is the 1.29 MWh. Six times 215 is 1,290, and that matches the total the report prints. The cells are lithium iron phosphate. Each cabinet has an integrated converter rated at 108 kW. The report does not print a combined kilowatt figure for all six running at once.
The solar is 540 modules of 700 Wp on three sheds, printed as 378 kWp. 540 times 700 watts is 378,000 watts, which is the 378 kWp the report prints. Three Huawei inverters of 100 kW sit with that array. Three times 100 is 300 kW of inverter, our arithmetic. The report prints the three inverters and the 378 kWp. It does not print 300. A dedicated substation steps 13.8 kV down to 380 V.
The plant is described as zero-grid. It does not send energy into the utility network. The battery can be charged in periods the companies call more favourable, and used in the utility's peak window, with grid use in that window taken to zero under the operating strategy they adopt. The report does not say every charge comes from the roof. A battery only holds what solar or the grid puts in. The diesel generator is a separate machine. It is not energy stored in the cabinet.
The daily job, as the companies describe it. Peak shaving holds maximum demand to 360 kW. Load shifting moves use out of the peak window. The storage also plays a part in power-factor correction, which is the charge a utility adds when current and voltage slip out of step. Think of power factor as a machine drawing a messy current. The utility bills the mess. The report says the battery helps with that mess. It does not print the old power factor or the new one.
The 50% line. The companies estimate a reduction of about 50% in the farm's energy bill. pv magazine says the notice does not set out the method and does not present performance data from after the system entered operation. Fifty percent is an estimate on a page. It is not a measured season.
Backup. When the grid fails, the batteries take the supply without the manual changeover that used to start the diesel generator. The generator stays as a second layer. A sizing study, not a logged outage, puts the runtime at about 10 hours in a critical case: heavy rain, and the grid failing just after the peak window. With non-essential loads switched off, the study says the period can reach 27 hours. With strong sun and the battery in operation, the report says that period can run on while generation covers the load. The study does not print the load shape behind the 10 hours or the 27 hours. Those hours are not 1,290 kWh divided by 360 kW. That division is 3.583, which rounds to 3.58 hours, our arithmetic, and it is the wrong sum if the critical load is smaller than the 360 kW cap. The report does not print the critical load.
Who did the work. Powersafe supplied the storage equipment and, with Zipp Energia and Huawei, ran the tests and commissioning. HDT Energy took part in the supply chain. Zipp Energia and KBTZ Engenharia did the development, the works, the substation and the integration.
A separate figure sits in the same report and is easy to mix up with the energy job. Rivelli has announced investments of about R$ 430 million in a growth step, with a target to lift slaughter from 200,000 birds a day to 300,000. That is a company expansion number. It is not a price for the solar plant or the battery. No price for this energy job is printed.
The breeding sheds are the reason the hours matter. Ventilation and climate control depend on electricity. A long cut can hit the welfare and the survival of the birds. The report says that. It does not say the battery has already carried the farm through a 10-hour outage or a 27-hour outage.
Analogy: the six cabinets are a tank of 1.29 MWh under a 378 kWp roof. The 360 kW line is a lid on how hard the farm draws from the utility. The 50% is a pencilled figure on the bill, with the working still in the drawer. The diesel generator is still in the yard.
Good: A named farm, a named town, a battery size that matches the cabinet count, a solar size that matches the module count, a demand cap, a no-export rule, and a reporter's line that the 50% is an estimate.
Bad: No price. No measured bill. No method for the 50%. No printed combined battery kilowatts. No load behind the 10-hour study or the 27-hour study. The Cemig "first" is the companies' line.
Ugly: Treating 50% as money already saved. Treating 27 hours as a full-farm run at 360 kW. Treating R$ 430 million as the cost of the cabinets. Treating the diesel generator as retired. Reading the battery as a source of power. It holds what the solar plant or the grid put in, and the generator is the machine that still makes power when those two run short.
Soft next step: put the 1.29 MWh, the 378 kWp and the 360 kW cap next to a week of the farm meter, and keep the 50% off the quote until a method and a season are on paper. A short consult at Sovryn Energy /consult if you want that sheet read against a cold room or a livestock shed.
Source: pv magazine Brasil, 22 Oct 2026 - BESS de 1,29 MWh reduz custos e amplia segurança energética de granja em MG. Primary for the 22 October report that Powersafe and Zipp Energia have a 1.29 MWh battery operating at the Granja de Matrizes of Rivelli Alimentos in Carmo do Cajuru, Minas Gerais, together with 378 kWp of solar, the grid and a diesel generator; the companies' statement that it is the first private-customer battery system in Minas Gerais with full Cemig D approval; six Huawei LUNA2000 cabinets at 215 kWh each, total 1,290 kWh, lithium iron phosphate, 108 kW converter each; 540 modules of 700 Wp on three sheds, 378 kWp, three Huawei inverters of 100 kW, and a 13.8 kV/380 V substation; zero-grid operation with no export; charging in more favourable periods and use in the peak window that can take grid consumption in that window to zero under the adopted strategy; peak shaving to a maximum demand of 360 kW, load shifting out of peak, and a role in power-factor correction; the companies' estimate of about a 50% cut in the energy bill, with no method and no post-operation performance data; automatic battery backup in an outage, the diesel generator kept as a second layer; the sizing study's about 10 hours in a critical case of heavy rain and a grid failure just after the peak window, up to 27 hours with non-essential loads off, and a longer period while solar covers the load, with no load shape printed for those cases; Powersafe supplying the storage and, with Zipp Energia and Huawei, testing and commissioning; HDT Energy in the supply chain; Zipp Energia and KBTZ Engenharia on development, works, the substation and integration; and Rivelli's separate announcement of about R$ 430 million to lift slaughter from 200,000 to 300,000 birds a day. Six times 215 equals 1,290, and 540 times 700 W equals 378,000 W, which matches the totals the report prints. Three times 100 kW equals 300 kW, and 1,290 kWh divided by 360 kW is 3.583, which rounds to 3.58 hours. The 300 kW and the 3.58 hours are our arithmetic. The report does not print 300 kW or 3.58 hours, and it does not print a price for the energy job. The R$ 430 million figure is not that price.