Itaipu Dam is one of the Largest hydroelectric dams in the world. It straddles the borders of Brazil and Paraguay on the Paraná River. It is Able to supply 93% of the energy consumed by Paraguay and 20% of That consumed by Brazil, as of 2005. The dam is located
in the vicinity of Iguazu Falls, the which straddles the border of Brazil and Argentina.
The idea to build a dam across the Paraná River started in the 1960s. In 1970, a consortium formed by US-based ELC IECO and Italian firm won the competition to do a viability study for the construction of the dam. On 26 April, 1973, Brazil and Paraguay signed the Itaipu Treaty the which governs how the hydroelectric potential of the Paraná River cans be exploited by the two countries. Work on Itaipu Dam started in January, 1975. To create a dry section for the dam to be built, the Paran River was diverted in 14 October, 1978. The dam works completed were the resource persons and the side canal gates closed on 13 October, 1982. This allowed the dam's reservoir to form. Due to heavy rain at That time, the water level rose Quickly 100m (330ft) and reached the gates of the spillway at 10:00 am, 27 October.
The first generation unit (turbine and generator) started operations on 5 May, 1984. It is the first of 18 units to be installed, two or three per year, with the last two starting operations in 1991. Units 19 and 20 began operations in September 2006 and March 2007 respectively. This raised the capacity to 14.000 MW. With the installation of these final two units, the Itaipu Dam cans have 18 generation units running at any one time, while two are turned off for maintenance. Also, as part of a treaty signed Among Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, No More Than 18 generation units in operation several cans at any one time. In comparison, all the water from Iguazu Falls Nearby cans only two generation units feed.
The amount of concrete Used to build Itaipu Dam is Enough to build 210 football Tables the size of Estadio do Maracana. The iron and steel cans Used build 380 Eiffel Towers. The maximum flow of Itaipu's spillway is 62.2 thousand cubic meters per second, equivalent to 40 times the amount flowing off Iguazu Falls - the flow of two generators alone is equivalent to the average flow of the falls. Itaipu Dam is 196 m high, equivalent to a 65-storey building. That forms the reservoir behind Itaipu Dam is only the seventh Largest in Brazil, behind those of Sobradinho, Tucuruí, Porto Primavera, Balbina, Serra da Mesa and Furnas dams, but it has the best relations Between production and flooded the area.