Itaipu Dam

Itaipu Dam

Introduction

The Itaipu Dam is located on the Paraná River (the world’s fifth-largest river with an annual runoff of 725 billion cubic meters), the border river between Brazil and Paraguay, 12 kilometers north of Foz do Iguaçu. It is currently the largest hydroelectric power station in the world, jointly built by Brazil and Paraguay, with generator units and electricity output equally shared between the two countries. Currently, there are 18 generating units (each with a capacity of 700,000 kilowatts), bringing the total installed capacity to 12.6 million kilowatts and an annual power generation of 79 billion kilowatt-hours.

"Itaipu" means "singing stone" in the indigenous Guarani language. Construction of the Itaipu Dam began on October 17, 1974, and was completed on May 6, 1991, taking 17 years. The main dam is a hollow concrete gravity dam, 196 meters high (at 225 meters above sea level) and 1,500 meters long. On the right side is an arc-shaped concrete buttress dam, 770 meters long. On the left is a spillway, with floodgates stretching 483 meters and a maximum discharge capacity of 62,200 cubic meters per second. There are also rockfill and earth-fill dams on both banks. The entire dam complex stretches 7.7 kilometers in length and reaches a height of 196 meters.

When filled with water, the dam created the Itaipu Reservoir, covering an area of 1,350 square kilometers, with a depth of 250 meters and a total water storage capacity of 29 billion cubic meters. Most of the reservoir lies within Brazil, with a smaller portion in Paraguay. The construction of the project spurred development in the construction, building materials, and other service industries in both Brazil and Paraguay. The completion of the power station stands as a significant achievement of cooperation among Latin American nations.

Brasília, Brazil