Copel (Companhia Paranaense de Energia) is a Brazilian company, considered one of the largest electric companies in the country. With 66 years in the market, the company is a reference in the market, showcasing experience and technical competence in the areas of generation, transmission, distribution, and commercialization of energy.
In this sense, the company is currently responsible for directly serving 4.8 million consumer units, distributed across 395 municipalities and 1,113 locations, including districts, villages, and hamlets.
In addition, the company has 45 power plants, including 19 hydroelectric plants, 1 thermal plant, and 25 wind farms. Copel's numbers also include participation in a hydroelectric plant under a quota system and involvement in another 11 energy generation projects. Copel is also responsible for the construction of 4 wind farms (Jandaíra Complex).
To enable the operation of energy transmission and distribution, Copel has 7,877 km of transmission lines and over 200 km of distribution lines, the third largest network in Brazil, and a workforce of more than 6,000 employees.
Copel became a publicly traded company in April 1994, after listing on the São Paulo Stock Exchange, and in July 1997, it was the first company in the Brazilian electric sector to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additionally, since 2002, the company has been present in Latibex, the Latin American space of the Madrid Stock Exchange (Spain).
Companhia Paranaense de Energia, also known as Copel, was founded on October 26, 1954, with shareholding control by the State of Paraná. Its foundation represented the first steps towards the electrification of Paraná.
The early years, which coincided with the 1960s, were marked by the company's rise, and from 1963 to 1967, the company was responsible for the inauguration of two hydroelectric plants and one thermal plant. As a result of this rise, by 1968, Copel was already the largest company in Paraná.
The company's expansion continued during the following decades, and by the mid-1980s, Copel's generation grew by about 52%, much of which was due to operations at the Governador Bento Munhoz da Rocha Netto hydroelectric plant. It was also during the 1980s that the company reached the milestone of 1 million consumers.
During the 1990s, the company explored new paths, going public in 1994 and entering the São Paulo Stock Exchange. By 1997, Copel would be among the companies listed on the NYSE, the New York Stock Exchange (USA).
In the early 2000s, the company underwent an expansion process that would make it large and responsible. As a result, in 2012, Copel would be responsible for bringing fiber optic networks to all municipalities in the state of Paraná and for reaching the milestone of 4 million consumers.
In 2016, Copel inaugurated its first transmission lines outside the state of Paraná. Subsequently, it inaugurated the first Eletrovia in Latin America (2018) and, in 2019, launched the Paraná Trifásico program, a program to modernize the distribution network.
