Brazilian infrastructure company Companhia Energética de Pernambuco (CELPE) is the main supplier of electricity in the country’s Northeastern state of Pernambuco. Headquartered in the state capital Recife, one of the most important economic and urban hubs in the country, CELPE serves a population of more than 8.8 million inhabitants in the 184 municipalities of Pernambuco. As part of the Brazilian government’s commitment to clean energy, the CELPE grid also contains several hydropower plants at rivers across the state.
Providing electricity to private customers and industrial clients in the expansive region requires a 136,762 kilometres distribution network and 4,386 kilometres of transmission lines. As critical parts of the power infrastructure, CELPE operates 240 substations across Pernambuco. But as most of these stations are located in remote areas, the last few years saw an alarming increase of vandalism and theft of expensive power cables.
