Eletrobras Explained

Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A.
Native Name Lang:pt
Type:Public
Traded As:
NASDAQ:
Location City:Rio de Janeiro
Location Country:Brazil
Key People:Wilson Ferreira Júnior (CEO)[1] [2]
Industry:Electricity
Products:Electrical power
Services:Electricity distribution
Electric power transmission
Electric power generation
Revenue: (2021)
Operating Income: (2021)
Net Income: (2021)[3]
Owner:Brazilian Government (46.63%)[4]
Num Employees:12,018 (2021)[5]

Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. (pronounced as /pt/, 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 largest in the world, and is also the fourth largest clean energy company in the world. Eletrobras holds stakes in a number of Brazilian electric companies, so that it generates about 40% and transmits 69% of Brazil's electric supply. The company's generating capacity is about 51,000 MW, mostly in hydroelectric plants. The Brazilian federal government owned 52% stake in Eletrobras until June 2022, the rest of the shares traded on B3. The stock is part of the Ibovespa index. It is also traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market and on the Madrid Stock Exchange.

History

Eletrobras was established in 1962 during João Goulart's presidency.

Operations

Eletrobras is an electric power holding company. It is the largest generation and transmission company in Brazil. Through its subsidiaries it owns about 40% of Brazil's generation capacities and controls 69% of the National Interconnected System.[6]

Eletrobras stands as the biggest company of the electric power sector in Latin America.

Subsidiaries

Among Eletrobras' subsidiaries, there are generation and transmission companies.

Eletronorte S.A.
Type:Private, subsidiary of Eletrobras
Location City:Brasilia
Location Country:Brazil
Industry:Power generation
Products:Electrical power
Services:Electricity distribution
Num Employees:3,655

Eletronorte (Centrais Elétricas do Norte do Brasil S.A.) is responsible for the power generation, transmission and distribution in the states of Amazonas, Pará, Acre, Rondônia, Roraima, Amapá, Tocantins and Mato Grosso.

Eletropar S.A.
Type:Subsidiary
Location:Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Industry:Private equity
Revenue: US$ 98.0 Million (2010)
Net Income: US$ 13.6 Million (2010)
Assets: US$ 152.4 Million (2011)
Num Employees:230
Homepage:www.eletrobraspar.com

Eletrobras Eletropar acts in participations of other energy companies.

CHESF S.A.
Type:Subsidiary
Key People:Fabio Lopes Alves (CEO)[8] [9]
Industry:Utilities
Products:Electricity generation
Num Employees:4,427
Parent:Eletrobras
Location:Recife, Brazil
Homepage:www.chesf.com.br

CHESF (Companhia Hidro-Elétrica do São Francisco; São Francisco's Hydroelectric Company) generates and transmits electric power from hydroelectric plants to all of the cities in northeast of Brazil. It owns 14 hydroelectric energy plants and 1 thermoelectric energy plant.[10] Sinval Zaidan Gama was made CEO in January 2017.[11]

The main source of energy is the São Francisco River.

Eletrobras CGTEE S.A.
Type:Subsidiary
Defunct:[12]
Location City:Candiota
Location Country:Brazil
Industry:Electricity
Parent:Eletrobras
Divisions:CGT Eletrosul
Homepage:cgteletrosul.com.br

Eletrobras CGTEE was a Brazilian power company created on 11 July 1997. It is active in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.[13]

Eletrobras Cepel

Eletrobras Eletronuclear

Eletrobras Eletrosul

Eletrobras Furnas

Itaipu Binacional

International activities

Eletrobras was authorized by Act 11.651, sanctioned on 7 April 2008, to operate abroad as an investor in the power sector, by means of consortiums and/or specific purposes companies; it may also have control on enterprises. In order to coordinate this operation, it was created the Superintendence of Operations Abroad, which will operate following the guidelines of its board of directors.

For this first period, the Superintendence of Operations Abroad has set forth the priorities as follows:

  1. Interconnect new sources of energy in Latin America with the Brazilian power system;
  2. Promote the energetic integration between Brazil and the countries of Latin America; and
  3. Prospect opportunities for investment in power energy in other countries to benefit the Brazilian economy by generating new markets for the goods and services suppliers segment.

The Superintendence of Operations Abroad has been developing negotiations with several countries in Latin America and Africa:

With Bolivia, Colombia, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Morocco and Nigeria the contacts are in their initial phase.

List of current and former CEOs

Took office inCEO
1962Paulo Richer
1964José Varonil de Albuquerque Lima
1964Octavio Marcondes Ferraz
1967Mario Penna Bhering
1975Antonio Carlos Magalhães
1978Arnaldo Rodrigues Barbalho
1979Maurício Schulman
1980José Costa Cavalcanti
1985Mario Penna Bhering
1990José Maria Siqueira de Barros10º
1992Eliseu Resende11º
1993José Luis Alquéres12º
1995Mario Fernando de Melo Santos13º
1995Antônio José Imbassahy da Silva14º
1996Firmino Ferreira Sampaio Neto15º
2001Cláudio Ávila da Silva16º
2002Altino Ventura Filho17º
2003Luiz Pinguelli Rosa18º
2004Silas Rondeau Cavalcanti Silva19º
2005Aloísio Marcos Vasconcelos Novais20º
2006Valter Luiz Cardeal de Souza21º
2008José Antonio Muniz Lopes22º
2010José da Costa Carvalho Neto23º
2016Wilson Ferreira Júnior24º
2020Rodrigo Limp25º
2022Wilson Ferreira Júnior26º

Privatization in 2022

In May 2021, the Câmara dos Deputados approved a Provisional Measure (MP), sent by the Bolsonaro Government, that foresees the privatization of Eletrobras. The process would take place through the sale of new ordinary shares on the B3 Stock Exchange, which in practice would decrease the shareholding interest of the government and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) to about 45%, with more papers offered to private investors. Where each shareholder, individually, could not hold more than 10% of the voting capital of the company. The Government would maintain a special class of share (golden share) that grants it veto power in decisions of the shareholders' meeting.[14] The MP was approved in the Senate Plenary, on 17 June 2021, with the presentation of three different opinions by the rapporteur, Senator Marcos Rogério (DEM-RO). The dispute was reflected in the result of the vote: the MP received 42 votes in favor and 37 against.[15] [16]

Privatization advocates argue that once privatized the company would increase its investment capacity.[17] However it was criticized by other sectors of society, such as the Union Movement for Energy, Instituto de Energia e Meio Ambiente (IEMA), and the Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (FIESP), fearing that the project could lead to increased tariffs for consumers and cause environmental damage.[18] [19] The main concerns about the privatization were amendments requiring the contracting of thermoelectric plants powered by natural gas and the authorization to build the Tucuruí transmission line without the need for environmental permits from the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) and the Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI).[20]

The final version of the project was approved on 21 June 2021. The final proposal extends contracts of the PROINFA for 20 years, provides for the construction of SHPs, and forbids, for ten years, that subsidiaries of Eletrobras are extinguished. The MP also determines revitalization projects in the Bacia do rio São Francisco, the Furnas reservoirs, in the Amazonia, Madeira River and Tocantins River. Also, Eletronuclear, responsible for the Usina Nuclear de Angra, and the Brazilian participation in the Itaipu Dam will be dismembered from Eletrobras and kept under state control.[21] [22]

In July 2021, Bolsonaro sanctioned the Provisional Measure for the privatization of Eletrobras. According to government accounts the privatization would reduce the electricity bill by about 7.36%.[23] On the other hand, entities in the sector said that the electricity bill will become more expensive with the privatization.[24]

The focus of the privatization is to sell shares until the government ceases to own 60% of the shares and owns 45% of the company, thus losing the majority stake in the company.[25]

In September 2021, the Empresa Brasileira de Participações em Energia Nuclear e Binacional (ENBPar) was created, with the objective of taking over Eletrobras activities that cannot be privatized, such as the Itaipu Binacional and Eletronuclear companies (Angra 1, 2 and 3 plants) and the management of public policies, under law 14.182/2021.[26]

On 14 June 2022, 802.1 million shares were sold, with a base price of R$42 (US$8.56), in an operation that moved R$33.7 billion (US$6.9 billion).[27] With this, the Union's stake in the voting capital of the state company was reduced from 68.6% to 40.3%.[28]

Major shareholders include GIC Private Limited, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and the Brazilian manager 3G Radar, linked to 3G Capital.

Employees and retirees of Eletrobras and its subsidiaries had priority to acquire up to 10% of the total shares offered.[29] It was also authorized that workers could buy company shares using up to 50% of the balance of the FGTS.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wilson Ferreira Júnior reassume presidência da Eletrobras . 19 September 2022 . 21 September 2022 . G1 . pt-br . Reuters.
  2. Web site: Wilson Ferreira Junior toma posse . 19 September 2022 . 21 September 2022 . Eletrobras Notícias . pt-br .
  3. Web site: Eletrobras teve lucro de R$ 5,7 bilhões em 2021. 19 March 2022. pt-br. Agência Brasil.
  4. Web site: Capital Social - Eletrobras RI .
  5. Web site: Relatório da Administração 2021 . 56, 61, 68 . 18 March 2022 . 6 July 2022 . Eletrobras RI . pt-br.
  6. Book: OECD Reviews of Regulatory Reform: Brazil 2008 Strengthening Governance for Growth . . 2008 . 85 . 9789264042933.
  7. Web site: Trânsito IP para Provedores de Internet | Eletronet. 3 February 2020. 18 March 2023.
  8. Web site: Sobre a empresa – Diretoria e Conselhos . 21 September 2022 . Companhia Hidrelétrica do São Francisco (Chesf) . pt-br .
  9. Web site: Ex-secretário de energia Fábio Alves é nomeado presidente da Chesf . 3 May 2018 . 21 September 2022 . Exame . pt-br .
  10. Web site: Companhia Hidro Elétrica do São Francisco: Private Company Information - Bloomberg. www.bloomberg.com. 28 November 2016.
  11. Web site: José Carlos De Miranda Farias: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg. www.bloomberg.com. 28 November 2016.
  12. Web site: História da CGTEE . 21 September 2022 . Companhia de Geração e Transmissão de Energia Elétrica do Sul do Brasil (CGT Eletrosul) . pt-br .
  13. Web site: Archived copy . 11 August 2017 . 17 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140217064939/http://www.cgtee.gov.br/sitenovo/index.php?secao=2 . dead .
  14. Web site: 19 May 2021 . Câmara aprova privatização da Eletrobras; texto ainda será votado no Senado . 20 May 2021 . UOL Economia . pt-br.
  15. Web site: 17 June 2021 . Senado aprova MP que desestatiza Eletrobras; texto volta para Câmara . 24 June 2021 . Senado Federal . pt-br.
  16. Web site: 17 June 2021 . Marcos Rogério comemora projeto de privatização da Eletrobrás; Caso siga o exemplo da Ceron em Rondônia tarifas devem aumentar . 25 June 2021 . Portal Rondônia . pt-BR.
  17. Web site: 19 May 2021 . Privatização pode injetar R$ 10 bilhões ao ano na Eletrobras, diz secretário . 24 June 2021 . Poder360 . pt-br.
  18. Web site: 14 June 2021 . Entidades criticam texto da MP de privatização da Eletrobras . 24 June 2021 . Correio Braziliense . pt-BR.
  19. Web site: 21 June 2021 . Fiesp critica relatório da MP da Eletrobras e manutenção de 'jabutis' . 24 June 2021 . CNN Brasil . pt-BR.
  20. Web site: 17 June 2021 . Senado aprova MP que autoriza privatização da Eletrobras . 24 June 2021 . G1 . pt-br.
  21. Web site: 21 June 2021 . Câmara aprova privatização da Eletrobras; texto vai à sanção presidencial . UOL Economia . pt-br . 24 June 2021.
  22. Web site: 21 June 2021 . Privatização da Eletrobras: saiba ponto a ponto o que prevê a MP aprovada pela Câmara . G1 Economia . pt-br.
  23. Web site: 9 June 2021 . Governo diz que privatização da Eletrobras pode reduzir conta de luz em até 7,36% . 15 February 2022 . G1 . pt-br.
  24. Web site: 17 June 2021 . MP da Eletrobras: Senado aprova texto com mudanças que podem aumentar conta de luz; entenda . 15 February 2022 . G1 . pt-br.
  25. Web site: 13 July 2021 . Bolsonaro sanciona com vetos MP da privatização da Eletrobras . 15 February 2022 . G1 . pt-br.
  26. Web site: 13 September 2021 . Decreto cria estatal para assumir Eletronuclear e Itaipu após venda da Eletrobras . 18 June 2022 . Correio Braziliense . pt-BR.
  27. News: 9 June 2022 . Brazil's Eletrobras Share Sale Raises $6.9 Billion in Latin America's Biggest Equity Deal in 2021 . Bloomberg.com . 9 June 2022.
  28. Web site: 16 June 2022 . Cingapura, Canadá e Lemann vão controlar Eletrobras . 18 June 2022 . ISTOÉ DINHEIRO . pt-BR.
  29. Web site: 14 June 2022 . Privatização da Eletrobras: veja perguntas e respostas . 18 June 2022 . G1 . pt-br.