What year was the Itaipu Treaty signed?

The Itaipu Treaty was signed on April 26, 1973 by Brazil and Paraguay. It is the legal instrument that created the binational company and allowed the joint use of the Paraná River.

What is the installed capacity of the Itaipu Dam?

Itaipu has 14,000 MW (14 GW) of installed capacity, distributed across 20 generating units of 700 MW each.

Why is Itaipu called binational?

Because it is owned in equal parts (50/50) by Brazil and Paraguay. The dam sits on the Paraná River, which forms the border between the two countries, and it is run by a company jointly owned by both nations.

What is the Itaipu Dam and why is it binational?

How the largest energy partnership between Brazil and Paraguay grew out of a 1973 treaty into one of the world's biggest hydroelectric plants

The Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam is a power plant built on the Paraná River, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, and operated as an equal 50/50 partnership by the two countries. It is "binational" because it has belonged equally to both nations since the Itaipu Treaty, signed on April 26, 1973. With 20 generating units and 14,000 MW of installed capacity, it is one of the largest producers of clean energy on the planet.

What the Itaipu Dam is

Itaipu is a hydroelectric plant built on the Paraná River, along the border stretch between Brazil and Paraguay, next to Foz do Iguaçu (BR) and the Ciudad del Este/Hernandarias area (PY). It harnesses the force of the Paraná's waters to generate electricity at massive scale. Commercial generation began on May 5, 1984.

Why it is "binational"

Itaipu is a binational company: it is owned in equal parts by Brazil and Paraguay, a 50/50 partnership. That even split lies at the very origin of the project, defined by the Itaipu Treaty, signed on April 26, 1973 by the two countries. The treaty is the legal instrument that allowed the joint use of the Paraná River, a shared watercourse on the border. That is why the dam is neither "Brazilian" nor "Paraguayan" — it belongs to both nations at the same time.

Installed capacity and generating units

Itaipu has 20 generating units, each rated at 700 MW, for a total installed capacity of 14,000 MW (14 GW). The original project called for 18 units; the last two came online in 2006 and 2007, completing the plant's current capacity.

Generation records

In 2016, Itaipu reached its highest annual output: 103.098 million MWh (103,098,366 MWh, according to Itaipu), a world record for energy generated by a single plant that year. In cumulative production, the dam has already surpassed 2.46 billion MWh since generation began in 1984.

Energy importance

Itaipu's energy is split between its two owners. In the record year of 2016, the plant supplied roughly 76% of the electricity consumed in Paraguay and 16.8% of Brazil's total electricity consumption, showing the dam's weight in both countries' energy mix. This is hydroelectric power, a renewable, low-carbon source.

Source: Itaipu Binacional — Generation