Centrais Elétricas de Santa Catarina (Celesc) is the

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

utility for the southern

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 ...

ian state of Santa Catarina. In 2014, the company had around 2.6-million customers and sold around 23.3 TWh of electricity. It generates power from 16 plants, all of them

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 ...

, with installed capacity of around 126MW. The company also owns some 5,100 km of distribution lines and a 148,164 km distribution network. Celesc is headquartered in the Santa Catarina capital of

Florianópolis Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the South Region, Brazil, South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as we ...

. Founded in 1955 by a decree signed by then-Governor , it is controlled by the state of Santa Catarina, who owns just over 20% of Celesc's stocks, that are traded on B3 (formerly BM&F Bovespa). Prior to Celesc's foundation, the electricity needs of Santa Catarina were primarily met by small privately-owned hydroelectric plants such as the Salto Weissbach Hydroelectric Plant in

Blumenau Blumenau () is a city in Vale do Itajaí, Santa Catarina (Brazil), Santa Catarina state, in the South Region, Brazil, South Region of Brazil, from the state capital Florianópolis. The city was founded by the German chemist and pharmacist H ...

, the Piraí Hydroelectric Plant in

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

and the Maroim Hydroelectric Plant in São José. As these plants did not provide enough electricity to supply the entire state, Celesc was formed, initially as a planning agency for the state's electrical system. Gradually, Celesc absorbed all of the state's regional electricity companies. In October 2006, the company passed by a reorganization process, in which it was transformed into a "holding" that kept the name Centrais Elétricas de Santa Catarina. Two new companies had been created, one of them responsible for the distribution (Celesc Distribuição) and another responsible for the generation of electric power (Celesc Geração).

References

External links

The company's home page in Portuguese
{{authority control Companies listed on B3 (stock exchange) Electric power companies of Brazil Companies based in Florianópolis Government-owned companies of Brazil Brazilian companies established in 1955 Energy companies established in 1955