- Business
- Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. - Eletrobrás Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. engages in the generation, transmission, and commercialization of electricity in Brazil. The company, founded in 1962 and headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, operates as Latin America's largest power utility and the world's tenth largest, with a generating capacity of approximately 51,000 MW, primarily from hydroelectric plants; it controls about 40% of Brazil's generation capacities and 69% of the National Interconnected System through subsidiaries including Eletronorte, CHESF, Eletrosul, Furnas, Eletronuclear, and a 50% stake in Itaipu Binacional. Its core offerings encompass electricity from hydroelectric (44 plants totaling 42,293.5 MW), thermoelectric, nuclear, wind, and solar sources; transmission via 66,539 kilometers of lines; and distribution services across regions such as the North, Northeast, South, and São Francisco River basin, serving residential, commercial, industrial, and public sector customers nationwide.
Eletrobrás maintains operations predominantly in Brazil with international activities focused on Latin American energy integration projects, including feasibility studies for hydroelectric plants in Angola, Namibia, Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay. Recent developments include the 2022 privatization via a capital increase that reduced the Brazilian federal government's voting stake from 68.6% to 40.3%, enhancing private investment while retaining a golden share for veto rights on key decisions; extension in June 2025 of its long-term service contract with Hitachi Energy for maintenance of the 2,375-km Rio Madeira HVDC transmission system; and an August 2025 partnership with C3 AI to deploy artificial intelligence for modernizing power grid operations, improving resilience, issue resolution, and integration of diverse energy sources.