Eletrobras Furnas (Furnas – Centrais Elétricas SA) is a regional power utility and a major subsidiary of

Eletrobras Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. (commonly referred to as Electrobras, ) is a major Brazilian electric utilities company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro. It is Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth la ...

. The company generates or transmits electricity to 51% of households in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and more than 40% of the nation's electricity passes through their grid. The company has a generating capacity of 10,050 MW which corresponds to 10% of Brazil's electrical production.

Overview

The company was founded on February 28, 1957, to support the fast-pace of urbanization in Brazil during the 1950s. Their aim was to develop the Grande River. They began construction of the

Furnas Dam The Furnas Dam () is a Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric dam in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil. A small settlement was built near the dam with the same name to house the workers during the dam construction. The main purpose of the dam and reservoi ...

in February 1957. Their effective operation began in 1963 and in 1971, their headquarters moved to Rio de Janeiro. The company owns and maintains 12

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s, two

thermal power plant A thermal power station, also known as a thermal power plant, is a type of power station in which the heat energy generated from various fuel sources (e.g., coal, natural gas, nuclear fuel, etc.) is converted to electrical energy. The heat ...

s and 49 substations. Out of their 10,050 MW installed capacity, 7,971 is owned by them and the rest through partnerships. The company also maintains 19,000 km of transmission lines, 900 km of which are from the

Itaipu Dam The Itaipu Dam ( ; ; ) is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. It is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world, and holds the 45th largest reservoir in the world. The name "Itai ...

. They supply 97% of the electricity in Brasília, 92% in Rio de Janeiro, 91% in Mato Grosso, 81% in the Espírito Santo, 61% in Goiás, 58% in São Paulo, Minas Gerais 45% and 16% in Tocantins.

Power plants

The hydroelectric power plants that the company owns and operates are the Baguari (140 MW), Corumbá (375 MW), Funil (216 MW),

Furnas Furnas is a civil parish in the municipality of Povoação on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese Azores. The population in 2011 was 1,439, in an area of 34.43 km2. The parish is one of the largest in the island and in the Azores. ...

(1,216 MW),

Itumbiara Itumbiara () is a municipality in Brazil, located in the southern part of the state of Goiás, on the border with Minas Gerais. It is a "sister city" to the Minas Gerais municipality of Araporã. The city lies south of the state capital, Goiâ ...

(2,082 MW), Luiz Carlos Barreto (1,050 MW), Manso (212 MW), Marimbondo (1,440 MW)

Mascarenhas de Moraes Mascarenhas may refer to: * Mascarenhas (surname), people named Mascarenhas * Mascarenhas (footballer), Domingos António da Silva (1937–2015), Angolan footballer *Mascarenhas, a civil parish of Mirandela Mirandela (), officially the City of M ...

(Peixoto) (476 MW), Peixe Angical (452 MW), Porto Colômbia (320 MW) and Serra da Mesa (1,275 MW) which is operated in a public partnership. They also own and manage the Campos (30 MW) and Santa Cruz (766 MW) thermal power plants.

References

{{Portal, Brazil, Energy Eletrobras Companies based in Rio de Janeiro (city) Energy companies established in 1957 1957 establishments in Brazil