page_title: Itaipu Dam
section_title: Capacity expansion in 2007
hierarchical_section_title: Itaipu Dam / History / Capacity expansion in 2007
caption_attribution_description: Itaipu Binacional-Construção da turbina 18
context_page_description: The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The construction of the dam was first contested by Argentina, but the negotiations and resolution of the dispute ended up setting the basis for Argentine–Brazilian integration later on.
  The name "Itaipu" was taken from an isle that existed near the construction site. In the Guarani language, Itaipu means "the sounding stone". The Itaipu Dam's hydroelectric power plant produced the second most energy of any in the world as of 2020, only surpassed by the Three Gorges Dam plant in energy production.
  Completed in 1984, it is a binational undertaking run by Brazil and Paraguay at the border between the two countries, 15 km north of the Friendship Bridge. The project ranges from Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, in the south to Guaíra and Salto del Guairá in the north. The installed generation capacity of the plant is 14 GW, with 20 generating units providing 700 MW each with a hydraulic design head of 118 metres. In 2016, the plant employed 3038 workers.
context_section_description: The last two of the 20 electric generation units started operations in September 2006 and in March 2007, thus raising the installed capacity to 14 GW and completing the power plant. This increase in capacity allows 18 generation units to run permanently while two are shut down for maintenance. Due to a clause in the treaty signed between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, the maximum number of generating units allowed to operate simultaneously cannot exceed 18 (see the agreement section for more information).
  The rated nominal power of each generating unit (turbine and generator) is 700 MW. However, because the head (difference between reservoir level and the river level at the foot of the dam) that actually occurs is higher than the designed head (118 m or 387 ft), the power available exceeds 750 MW half of the time for each generator.
  Each turbine generates around 700 MW; by comparison, all the water from the Iguaçu Falls would have the capacity to feed only two generators.
caption: The dam undergoes expansion work.
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