ENGIE, a renewable energy leader in Brazil released this Monday (the 31st) the book “ENGIE, 25 years of history in Brazil” in celebration of the company’s anniversary. An opening event at the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater gathered together the company’s CEO, Maurício Bähr, its main executives, employees and partners, and other representatives of the Brazilian electric energy industry.

The seven-chapter book recalls milestone from the company’s early days in Brazil. Since some events predating the company’s establishment took place more than thirty years ago, the main time line is based on the establishment of what now stands as ENGIE in Brazil, with the starting point at the opening, in Rio de Janeiro, of the corporate offices of Tractebel Electricity and Gas International, a company with main office and management in Belgium.

The company’s history begins with four employees working from an office in Rio de Janeiro, in 1997. The book departs from that point to tell the road traveled until this became today’s Group, with three thousand employees nationwide. Its main investments, acquisitions, managerial changes and business diversification, in addition to its future vision and purpose of a carbon-neutral world are all present in more than 300 pages, together with pictures, documents and interviews.

“When we formed the company in a tiny suite on Ouvidor Street, in downtown Rio, we never imagined that would be standing here today in celebration of our 25-year presence in Brazil. We never imagined that we would one day exceed 10 thousand Megawatts in installed capacity, that we would offer energy efficiency solutions, and event transport gas. This is all fruit of a collective effort. ENGIE is an amazing family that evolves and adds development to Brazil. Celebrating this with you today is a spectacular moment,” said Maurício Bähr.

The company’s first business was the acquisition of Cana Brava, a 450 MW hydro plant that required investing US$ 500 million at the time. “After a few months, certain changes, and a little courage, we allowed ourselves to dream big. And it worked out. From the outset, ENGIE sought to consolidate its team spirit by promoting and developing in-house talent, and to prosper based on its employees’ professional and personal growth,” Bähr added.

Gil Maranhão Neto, who has also been with ENGIE for 25 years and is now its Communication, Corporate Social Responsibility and Carbon Officer, spoke on the publication, saying said that the idea for the book first came up three years ago. With support from journalist Roberto Rockmann, more than 100 people were interviewed to help tell the story of the company and of the electric energy industry.

“This book honors people: men and women who have been able to turn natural resources, production assets, services, capital and science into energy goods, products and service. People endowed with the vision to anticipate global and local trends and equipped with the required social and environmental sensitivity and humility to listen to people and learn from them. It is the product of lots of carefully planned work, lots of dedication, and lots of discipline.”

For Maurício Bähr, over its 25 years, ENGIE collected efforts and united people who did and do believe in change. “We experienced important times in Brazil and never ceased to believe in the country’s potentialities. All of this leads us to believe that we are ready to keep growing in size, new activities and technologies,” he concluded.