120 Years of the Parnahyba Hydropower Plant: The Plant

A byproduct of the interaction between human action and the environment, The Parnahyba Hydropower Plant was, in its time, Brazil’s main feat of hydroelectric engineering, comparable to the world’s greatest hydropower plants. 

The construction happened at a frantic pace, taking only twenty months to finish. 

The materials and tools used in the edification were, in its majority, imported from the United States, being shipped in through the Porto de Santos (Santos Seaport), then being transported to the Barueri Station by train, followed by a 13-kilometer ox cart hauling, until it fin

Following the work completion, Parnahyba Plant began relaying energy to the Paula Souza substation, in central São Paulo city, where it powered the electric trams, the public lighting system, and a few other clients. 

As a result of the Plant’s construction, there was a great transformation in the supply of energy in São Paulo, with its usage becoming much more generalized.

A milestone of São Paulo’s transition into modernity, the installation of the Parnahyba Plant was dependent on draw animal transportation, with ox and mule carts being used. 

Most of the machinery and materials used for the construction was imported, given that the Brazilian industry was too early in its establishment to meet the demands of an undertaking of these proportions. 

The engineer Hugh L. Cooper was the one responsible for construction of the Parnahyba Plant, considered by many to be the main reason for the presence of the Canadian Light company in Brazil.

 It took over 20 months of work to conclude the construction of the Plant.

The installation of the Parnahyba Plant consumed more than 8.000 metric tons of construction material and more than 450 tons of materials for the generators alone.

The Parnahyba Plant was the first of many enterprises made by The São Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company in the State of São Paulo, being the first to feature a Dam more than 15 meters tall.

 The Canadian company would be responsible for other installations that would significantly alter the landscape and urban occupation of the Greater São Paulo area.