In 2015, Itaipu Binacional completed 41 years at the height of productivity and efficiency, while promoting the company’s sustainability and sustainable development. We have produced 82.9 million megawatthour (MWh) – 1.6% more than the previous year – and assumed global leadership in annual energy production. In the first months of 2016, we achieved successive production records, with great chance to overcome the mark of 100 million MWh/year, which is unprecedented in the world.

During the summer of 2015, when Brazil faced a major water crisis in its history, the plant was critical to meet the domestic electricity demand. We have achieved the level of productivity (or efficiency) lf 96.49%, i.e. 96.49% of turbinable water was effectively transformed into electricity, contributing to Brazil to maintain its energy matrix as one of the least carbon intensive in the world.

We are a company linked to two national governments and follow standards of governance and management of internal social, economic and environmental aspects and of its surroundings commonly found in the private sector. Among our 14 Strategic Goals, six explicit our commitment to sustainability issues.

We know that the Brazilian and international society are increasingly attentive to the risks associated with governance, ethics and corruption in business. We have been working on formalizing a binational integrity/compliance program that, in the medium term, will perform the integrated risk and compliance (anti-corruption) management. The program will be added to the existing control mechanisms, such as adherence to the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).

Itaipu has also been a promoter of change and development in the region since its construction. Our initiatives, directly and indirectly contribute to the achievement of 16 of the United Nation’s (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which gives us international recognition.

Our greatest social and environmental program, “Cultivating Good Water” (“Cultivando Água Boa”) was elected the best management practice in water resource management in the world and won the Water for Life Award, granted by the UN.

The Itaipu Tourist Complex was Brazil’s only winner in the category Research, Technology and Innovation in the 12th edition of the Tourism Excellence and Innovation Award. The award, granted by the World Tourism Organization, linked to the UN, is the most important in the sector globally. And we were the third company in the country to get a Life Certification, which certifies the efficiency of the environmental management system and actions for biodiversity conservation.

The internal and external equity incentive is already historical. We were the first Brazilian company to join the campaign “He For She” (“Eles Por Elas”), UN Women, and we launched the global campaign in Brazil and Paraguay at our headquarters in 2015. We also launched the second edition of the 2016 WEPs Brazil Award, which is based on the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), created by the UN Global Compact and UN Women. In all, 137 companies from across the country have signed up and the announcement of the winners took place in March 2016.

Seeking to facilitate the achievement of the vision, reduce corporate bureaucracy and make it more transparent, efficient and sustainable, in 2015, we carried out a review of Itaipu’s Tactical and Operational Plans. This process included the significant participation of employees from all areas and resulted in the definition of projects to be implemented in the short, medium and long term, covering topics such as Social Development, Tourism, Renewable Energy and Infrastructure. An example is the project that made the organization’s fleet more sustainable by using vehicles powered by electricity and/or biomethane gas. The replacement of conventional cars by electrical cars, alone, prevented the emission of 25.76 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere in 2015.

The experience with power generation from biogas was presented at the UN Energy Forum in Vienna and at the UN Climate Conference – COP 21, in Paris, as well as the Electric Vehicle Program, emphasizing the alignment of our strategy with the global challenges related to climate.

Still in 2015, we have also faced the longest stoppage of Brazilian employees in the company’s history, lasting 43 days. The movement, however, did not affect energy production or the plant maintenance. It demonstrated the commitment and responsibility for power generation with safety and protection of the binational heritage.

These are some highlights of what happened last year and which are described in more detail in the following pages of this Report. I hope you enjoy reading this Report!