Itaipu Dam

Itaipu was built between 1975 and 1982 as a joint Brazilian and Paraguayan project, and it is nearly eight kilometres long and about a hundred and ninety-six metres high, with twenty generating units split evenly between the two countries. For decades it was the largest hydroelectric producer in the world by annual output, a position it has since traded with the Three Gorges dam in China, though Itaipu has continued to set records for annual generation in some years. It supplies a large share of Paraguay's electricity and a substantial share of Brazil's. The reservoir flooded Sete Quedas, a set of falls on the Parana that had been larger in volume than Iguacu, and displaced around forty thousand people - both facts are part of the record here.

History

Brazil and Paraguay declared their joint interest in the river's power in the Iguaçu Act of 22 July 1966, signed the Itaipu Treaty on 26 April 1973 and created Itaipu Binacional on 17 May 1974, and building began the following January. On 14 October 1978 the Paraná was diverted so that its bed could be dried for the dam, an agreement with Argentina on 19 October 1979 settled the river levels, and on 13 October 1982, with the dam works complete, the gates of the side canal were closed and the reservoir began to fill, flooding the Guaíra Falls (Wikipedia, Itaipu Dam).

What you'll find

• Eight kilometres of dam - 196 metres high across the Parana.
• Twenty units, two countries - generation split evenly with Paraguay.
• A record-setting producer - among the highest annual output anywhere.
• What the reservoir covered - the drowned Sete Quedas falls and displaced towns.

When to go

All year. Half a day. The spillway only opens when the reservoir is high.

Good to know

Tours are timetabled and the technical circuit that goes inside the structure must be booked ahead and has age limits. The spillway is dry most of the year, which disappoints people expecting the photographs. Security screening applies and identification is required.

Nearby

Iguacu Falls are south; Ciudad del Este in Paraguay is across the bridge.

Key facts