Transportadora Associada de Gás – TAG and Origem Energia announced, on this Wednesday (March 27) a non-binding strategic partnership agreement to jointly develop a pioneering natural gas storage service in Brazil, a type of infrastructure that brings new solutions for the ongoing opening up of the market in the country. The objective is to meet the growing demand for flexible solutions to facilitate natural gas transport, in order to offer liquidity and security to players in the natural gas market. Origem Energia, a domestic provider of integrated energy solutions, holds the concession for the infrastructure required to operate the service by means of its assets in the state of Alagoas. TAG, in turn, holds the largest natural gas transport in Brazil. Operation is scheduled to begin in 2024.
The partnership will bring together two important players on this front: on the one hand, Origem Energia, a domestic integrated energy solutions company that holds the concession for the Pilar gas fields in the State of Alagoas, and, on the other, TAG, which holds Brazil’s most extensive gas pipeline network . The new solution stands as a milestone in the natural gas sector and in the relationship between its production and consumption, and positions TAG as a company that, in addition to operating in natural gas transportation, develops other energy infrastructure solutions in line with market needs.
TAG engages solidly with the Brazilian natural gas market and has been developing innovative solutions to enable new actors to access the national transportation network, together with the extensive worldwide experience of the ENGIE Group, one of its shareholders, which plays a leading role in Europe’s natural gas infrastructure through GRT Gaz, GRDF, Elengy, and Storengy, the largest gas storage company in Europe.
Origem Energia is controlled by Prisma Capital and acquired the Alagoas Hub’s assets in February 2022. Since then, the Company has been mapping opportunities associated with its depleted fields for storage purposes. The service is widely used in the United States and Europe to ensure the energy system’s security and flexibility, but remains unused in Brazil.
The initiative is a development from the New Gas Law, which has been in force in Brazil since 2021. Storage is key to balancing the natural gas production and consumption curves, and its consolidation will contribute to reduce Brazil’s reliance on imported gas. In the context of the development of the gas market, the project will benefit domestic production of the molecule, and may encourage new suppliers and consumers of the input to join the national network.
“Natural gas storage may play a crucial role in Brazil’s energy transition. In addition to supporting industrial de-carbonization, the increased availability of flexible gas will supplement the growth of intermittent renewable energy generation. This is a fundamental step towards the maturity of the market, with increased liquidity and competitiveness. In addition, storage paves the way for new energy development and storage technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage,” said TAG CEO Gustavo Labanca.
By allowing natural gas to be stored during periods of low demand and made available during peak consumption, storage strengthens the security of natural gas supply. In other words, customers will be able to inject surpluses from their portfolios and withdraw it later, providing flexibility to producers, importers and consumers operating at both ends of the supply and demand chain. In addition, the possibility of storing natural gas will allow associated gas producers to reduce their injection rates, increasing supply on the domestic market and, consequently, reducing its cost.
“In the long run, the winners will be the manufacturing sector and the Brazilian energy matrix. The former will gain access to more competitive energy sources and the latter will have the support it need to continue growing through renewable sources, which are inherently intermittent,” said Origem Energia CEO Luiz Felipe Coutinho.
Total estimated investment in the project will be up to approximately USD 200 million in several tranches. Origem Energia will contribute the project’s infrastructure already developed in the Alagoas Hub – depleted reservoirs, drilled wells, connected pipelines, and “cushion gas”. TAG, by its turn, will provide the capital for investment in additional infrastructure to launch the storage service. Initial storage capacity will be 106 million cubic meters/year. In the long run, capacity may increase to 500 million cubic meters/year.
“Storage will enable adding security to natural gas supply, particularly during seasonal fluctuations. In the Brazilian dry season, for example, the resource will be available to handle intermittence from renewable energy sources, providing reliable and timely supply of the molecule,” Coutinho explained.
Gustavo Labanca emphasized that “natural gas storage, as a new system-balancing resource, can help balance gas flows along transportation pipelines, reducing transaction cost and acting as the natural gas system’s ‘lungs’.”
The storage service will be provided on a firm basis, with maximum storage, injection and withdrawal capacities to maximize the use of the reservoir. Interruptible products will also be offered to meet the needs of customers that require greater injection or withdrawal capacity. The partners are already in preliminary talks with the first potential customers for the service.

About TAG
TAG has the most extensive network of gas transport pipelines in Brazil, with approximately 4,500 km, which cross almost 200 municipalities in ten Brazilian states. There are 3,700 km in the coastal region of Brazil—in the states of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro—, and another 800 km in Amazonas.
The company’s shareholders are ENGIE, with a 50% stake, Brazil’s leading renewable energy company, which operates in the generation, sale and transmission of electricity, gas transport and energy solutions, and CDPQ, a global investment group, with a 50% stake.

About Origem Energia
Origem is an integrated energy and infrastructure company. It was formed based on the vision that (i) natural gas will play an important role in the development of the Brazilian energy matrix; and (ii) the associated infrastructure is key to generating long-term value. The Company is currently authorized to operate 14 mature oil an d natural gas fields, 13 of which onshore and one offshore in the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Espírito Santo and Rio Grande do Norte, in addition to 18 exploratory blocs in the Sergipe-Alagoas and Tucano Sul Basins. Out of the Company’s total proven and probable reserves, approximately 79% are for natural gas, and the remaining 21% are for oil.
The Company’s operations are mainly carried out in the Alagoas (5 concessions) and Tucano Sul (4 concessions) hubs. Origem Energia currently has 300 kilometers of outflow pipelines, one natural gas processing unit (NGPU), seven oil and natural gas production and collection stations, and two thermal projects with a combined capacity of 280 MW, ready to participate in reserve power capacity auctions. In 2023, the company was the winning bidder to operate the Maceió Waterway terminal (TAMAC), in the city of Maceió, from which it ships out its oil production.
Origem Energia is a subsidiary of Prisma Capital. Prisma Capital was founded in 2017 and is one of Brazil’s main alternative investments manager, formed by partners with more than 15 years’ experience working together. The firm has a flexible mandate to invest in various industries and asset classes, including private equity, credit, real estate, NPLs, bankruptcies/turnarounds, lawsuits, and litigation funding. Prisma Capital currently has BRL 15 billion under management.