The grandiose numbers of Itaipu give rise to impressive comparisons.
• The total volume of the concrete used in the construction of the power plant would be sufficient to build 210 football stadiums like that of Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro.
• The iron and steel used would permit the construction of 380 Eiffel Towers.
• The maximum discharge of the Itaipu spillway (62.2 thousand cubic meters per second) corresponds to 40 times the average flow of the Iguaçu Falls.
• The discharge from two Itaipu turbines (700 cubic meters per second each) corresponds to average flow of the Falls (1500 cubic meters per second).
• The height of the main dam (196 meters) is equivalent to the height of a 65 story building.
• Brazil would have to burn 536 thousand barrels of oil per day to obtain from thermoelectric plants the same production as the energy from Itaipu.
• The volume of the excavations in earth and rock at Itaipu is 8.5 times greater than that of the Euro tunnel (linking France and England beneath the English Channel) and the volume of concrete is 15 times greater.
Production
See below a comparison chart for the highest operating records in history:
| Power plant |
Country |
Production record(mi MWh) |
Record year |
Average of the best 4 years (mi MWh) |
| Itaipu |
Brazil-Paraguay |
98.29 |
2012 |
94.27 |
| Three Gorges |
China |
98.11 |
2012 |
84.21 |
| Guri |
Venezuela |
53.41 |
2008 |
51.10 |
| Tucurui |
Brazil |
41.43 |
2009 |
39.52 |
Production versus flooded area
The best GWh generated per reservoir area ratios.
| Power plant |
Country |
Generation/Reservoir area
(GWh/Km2) |
| Grand Coulee |
USA |
83 |
| Three Gorges |
China |
78 |
| Itaipu |
Brazil-Paraguay |
70 |
| Sayano |
Russia |
41 |
| Tucurui |
Brazil |
14 |
| Guri |
Venezuela |
13 |
Installed capacity
A comparison among the world’s main power plants’ generator sets.
| Three Gorges (China) |
22,400 mW |
160% |
| Itaipu |
14,000 mW |
100% |
| Guri (Venezuela) |
10,000 mW |
74% |
| Tucuruí (Brasil) |
8,379 mW |
60% |
| Grand Coulee (USA) |
6,809 mW |
49% |
| Sayano Shushenskaya (Russia) |
6,400 mW |
46% |
| Krasnoyarsk (Russia) |
6,000 mW |
43% |
| Robert-Bourassa(Canada) |
5,616 mW |
40% |
Itaipu and Three Gorges
| Power Plant |
Itaipu |
Three Gorges |
| Turbines |
20 |
32 (6 underground) |
| Rated power |
700 mW |
700 mW |
| Installed power |
14,000 mW |
22,400 mW (when completed, in 2011) |
| Record annual production |
98.2 billion kWh/year (2012) |
98.1 billion kWh/year
(2012)* |
| Annual production |
98.2 billion kWh/year (2012) |
98.1 billion kWh/year
(2012)* |
| Concrete used |
12.57 million m³ |
27.94 million m³ |
| Height |
196 meters |
181 meters |
| Length of dam |
7,744 meters (concrete, rock and earth)
175 meters (Hernandárias dyke)
|
4,149 meters (concrete 2,309 m and Maoping dyke1,840 m) |
| Spillway – discharge capacity |
62,200 m³/s |
120,600 m³/s |
| Excavations |
63.85 million m³ |
134 million m³ |
*Source: Three Gorges Corporation.
|
Reservoir
|
|
|
| Length |
170 km |
600 km |
| Area |
1,350 km² |
1,084 km² |
| Storage |
29 billion m³ |
39.3 billion m³ |
| Normal operation level |
220 m |
175 m |
| Number of people resettled |
40 thousand |
1.13 million |
