A BINATIONAL HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT

The Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant is a joint development of Brazil and Paraguay. ITAIPU Binacional is the entity created and owned in equal proportions by both countries to build and operate the hydroelectric complex.

With an installed capacity of 12,600 MW, represented by eighteen generating units of 700 MW each, Itaipu is the largest hydroelectric power plant currently in operation in the world. It accounts for about 25% of power production in Brazil and 80% in Paraguay.

The dam is located on the Paraná river in the stretch forming the frontier between Brazil and Paraguay.

Construction. Work on the Project began in 1975, a year after the creation of ITAIPU Binacional. At the peak of the construction, about 40,000 people were involved in the Project. The first 700 MW unit was commissioned in 1984 and the eighteenth went on line in April 1991. Two new units are expected to be put into operation by 2003, thus raising Itaipu’s installed capacity to 14,000 MW.

Production. In 1997, ITAIPU attained a record production of 89.200 GWh, unmatched by any other power plant in the world. In 1998, Itaipu generated 87.268 GWh, of which 95.2% were assigned to Brazil, accounting for 25% of the Brazilian market requirements and 4.8% to Paraguay, accounting for 79% of the Paraguayan market requirements.

Environmental protection. ITAIPU is an environment-friendly entity. The impacts over the area influenced by the plant and the local population were carefully assessed so that appropriate measures were timely implemented both to avoid or minimize the harmful effects of the Project and to enhance its potential benefits.

Before the filling of the reservoir, special attention was given to recovering and preserving materials of archaeological and historical interest, safeguarding the cultural memory, and protecting the natural ecosystems. Currently, Itaipu still devotes a huge effort and significant amounts of financial resources to carrying out environmental protection programs, ranging from reforestation of damaged areas to preservation of the quality of water in the reservoir.

Tourist attraction. Since it was opened to public visitation in 1977, Itaipu has attracted over 10 million visitors.

One of the seven wonders of the modern world. Itaipu was portrayed, in the cover story of the December 1995 issue of the American magazine Popular Mechanics, dedicated to celebrating mankind’s most astounding engineering triumphs, as "one of the seven wonders of the modern world", along with the Eurotunnel (in the English Channel), the Netherlands North Sea Protection Works, the Empire State Building (in the USA), the Canadian National Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge (in the USA) and the Panama Canal. These engineering masterpieces were chosen by a panel of expert advisors assembled by the American Society of Civil Engineers, among hundreds of monumental structures from several countries, according to the "advances, engineering challenges, and long-term significance each project represented."

Home page: www.itaipu.gov.br