Renova Energia S.A

What it is

Founded in 2001, Renova Energia is a Brazilian renewable energy company operating wind, small hydroelectric, and solar power plants. Its crown jewel is the Alto Sertão III wind complex in the state of Bahia — 155 turbines with a combined capacity of 432.7 MW, enough to supply roughly one million homes.

Renova is listed on B3’s Level 2 governance tier — a notch below the top “Novo Mercado” rung — under tickers RNEW3, RNEW4, and RNEW11. The company also trades energy on the Brazilian wholesale market, which is now its largest single source of revenue.

Who owns it

Angra Partners, a São Paulo private-equity manager, holds about 30.3% of Renova’s shares and exercises control through a shareholders’ pact — up from just 3.1% before it bought out the state utility Cemig in 2021. That move ended the utility’s long grip on the company.

More recently, local investment fund VC Energia II agreed a debt-for-equity deal, converting R$528m (~US$102.5m) of loans into equity via a R$540m (~US$104.8m) capital raise by Renova. Institutional investors hold about 11.8% of the float, according to EODHD data; no other named bloc is disclosed in available sources.

Who runs it

CEO Cristiano Correa de Barros has been at the helm through the final stretch of the restructuring. The company appointed João Antônio Rodrigues da Cunha as chief financial officer in December 2025, as Renova emerged from court protection and pivoted toward data centres.

Cunha joined from renewable developer Serena and brings more than 15 years in corporate finance, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions, mostly in the Brazilian electricity sector.

The money, in plain words

Revenue nearly doubled in the most recent fiscal year — from R$259m (US$50.3m) to R$515m (US$100m), a gain of 99% (our calculation) — driven largely by energy trading volumes. Yet the company still loses money at every level: it spends more to produce and sell power than it earns from it, posting a gross loss of R$24m (US$4.7m) in FY2025 against a gross profit of R$173m (US$33.6m) just two years earlier.

The bottom line — what owners actually keep — was a net loss of R$162m (US$31.5m) in FY2025, a net profit margin of –26%; for every real of sales, the company burns through 26 centavos. Return on equity is –14.82%, meaning the book value of owners’ capital is eroding each year.

Cash on hand stood at just R$35.7m (US$6.9m) at year-end, a thin cushion for a company of this scale.

What it is doing now

A São Paulo court issued a judgment in early 2025 formally concluding Renova’s judicial recovery — the Brazilian equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which it had entered in October 2019. That closes a six-year legal chapter but leaves the financial repair work unfinished.

The new CFO hire is part of a governance rebuild as Renova pivots toward the booming data centre market, with plans to integrate digital infrastructure at the Alto Sertão III wind complex in Bahia as a first step.

What to watch

• Path to profitability: Revenue growth is dramatic, but gross margins have collapsed; watch whether energy trading margins recover or erode further.
• Data-centre pivot: Pairing a wind farm with a data centre is novel in Brazil; execution risk is high and capital requirements are large relative to Renova’s thin cash balance.
• Balance-sheet repair: The VC Energia debt-for-equity conversion diluted existing shareholders heavily; any further capital raises will test investor appetite at current loss levels.
• Governance credibility: Level 2 listing and new CFO signal intent, but EODHD shows zero insider ownership — executives hold no skin in the game, which is worth watching.

This is news, not investment advice.