If you have already left the coast of São Paulo along Rodovia Anchieta, you must have come across two huge tubes cutting through the Serra do Mar from top to bottom. This is the Henry Borden complex — formed by two hydroelectric plants, in Cubatão (SP). With 100 years of history, it was once the target of bombing during the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 and helped to boost the state's industrial development.
Until 1970, the complex was considered the largest hydroelectric plant with installed power in the Southern Hemisphere. A landmark in hydroelectric engineering at the beginning of the last century, with the use of high-head relief for energy generation, the model was surpassed by projects with less impact on the environment.
Today, it maintains its strategic importance interconnected with the national energy system. This Saturday (7), an event will mark the complex's centenary with the inauguration of the Henry Borden Cultural Space, dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of the history and legacy of the place.
Henry Borden belongs to the Metropolitan Water and Energy Company (Emae). The state-owned company was privatized by the governor of São Paulo Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), in an auction held by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), in 2024. The unit was acquired for R$1.04 billion for the Phoenix Fund for Investments in Participações Multiestratégia.
Opened in 1926, the complex has a maximum capacity of 889 megawatts/hour, an amount of energy capable of supplying a city with 2 million properties, including industries and businesses.
When g1 visited the complex in 2025, the plant's operations coordinator, Emerson Laube, stated that the energy is enough to supply 4.2 million homes.
To comply with state environmental legislation that only allows the pumping of water from the Pinheiros River to the Billings Reservoir in emergency situations, Henry Borden had its operation regulated in 1992. Despite this, the complex still strategically serves as a reserve for the system.
The Henry Borden complex was essential for the industrialization of the Cubatão Complex, but the impact on the State of São Paulo is less known.
"When they were inaugurated and, little by little, the capacity was implemented, it practically doubled the energy generation in the state of São Paulo", stated Laube. According to him, this was reflected in boosting industrial growth.
During the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932, an armed movement that took place in the State of São Paulo to overthrow the Provisional Federal Government of Getúlio Vargas and demand the promulgation of a new constitution for Brazil, the Henry Borden complex was bombed.
On July 28, 1932, seaplanes dropped two bombs in the Cubatão region and one hit the plant's control room, piercing the ceiling and shattering the windows. The intention would have been to stop the generation of electrical energy and, in this way, stop the factories that the São Paulo troops were using to manufacture their war material against the Getúlio Vargas government. No one was seriously injured.
The Henry Borden complex has 14 groups of power generating units: 8 in the external plant, capable of generating up to 469 megawatts/hour, and 6 underground, with a generation capacity of 420 megawatts/hour. Together, they generate 889 MW.
There are those who think that the pipes are used to transport fuel, but the group of pipelines transports water from the Billings Reservoir to feed the plant's generating units. Billings Dam was initially built to serve Henry Borden.
The waterfall, between the height of the reservoir and the point where the powerhouse is located, is 720 meters high, which earns Henry Borden another title: one of the 10 largest plants in the world with this type of fall.
At the beginning of operation, the plants supplied the entire Baixada Santista and the southeast region of São Paulo. Currently, the maximum capacity of the plants is not used daily. The Henry Borden complex serves as a backup for the National Interconnected System (SIN).
The SIN works like a "ring", where all generators connect their respective plants and, from there, when necessary, the transmitters withdraw energy.
