Construction started on the Serra do Facão Hydroelectric Power Plant, which is located on the São Marcos River, on the border between the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais, in 2006. The undertaking is the responsibility of SEFAC (Serra do Facão Energia S.A.), a company formed by Furnas Centrais Elétricas S.A., Alcoa Alumínio S.A., Camargo Corrêa Energia and DME Energética. It took almost three years to build and required investments of R$ 1.063 billion. On July 13, 2010 SEFAC went into commercial operation. The concession to use this water resource for producing electricity was acquired at an auction that was organized by the National Electricity Agency (ANEEL) on July 12, 2002, at the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange.

During the construction phase the undertaking generated as many as 4800 jobs, of which 1600 were direct and 3200 indirect. The power produced by the Serra do Facão Hydroelectric Power Plant, with its 210MW of installed capacity, will be incorporated into the Brazilian Power Grid System (SIN), distributed nationwide and used by consortium members as necessary.

At the same time that work was being undertaken on the construction site of the Serra do Facão Hydroelectric Power Plant, other activities were underway, like the acquisition of properties and the relocation of the local population and of infrastructure in the area of the power plant reservoir, like the building and raising of bridges and the relocation of power transmission lines and roads. Programmed activities were also underway on the various environmental projects.

The reservoir of the Serra do Facão power plant extends over an area of 227 km2 and partially covers five municipalities in Goias (72.8% of Catalão; 22.4$ of Campo Alegre de Goiás; 0.6% of Cristalina; 0.4% of Davinópolis and 0.1% of Ipameri) and one in Minas Gerais (3.7% of Paracatu).

The Environmental Impact Study (EIA) of the Serra do Facão power plant project was presented to the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (IBAMA) and extensively debated in various public hearings that were held in the municipalities located in the area affected by the development. The improvement proposals and commitments presented in the EIA were validated in the hearings, which made it possible to obtain the Preliminary License in April 2002, a document that warranted the project’s environmental feasibility.

In September 2006, IBAMA renewed the Installation License, which allowed the Serra do Facão power plant to be built. In November 2009 the plant received its Operating License, which is valid until November 2013.

The shareholders in the SEFAC Consortium are as follows: Furnas Centrais Elétricas S.A. (49.47%), Alcoa Alumínio S.A. (34.97%), DME Energética (10.09%) and Camargo Corrêa Energia S.A. (5.47%).