1. What does the Itaipu electricity mean for Brazil and Paraguay?
With 20 generator units and 14,000 MW of installed power, Itaipu supplies 16,99% of the energy consumed in Brazil and 72,92% of the Paraguayan demand.
In 2011, the Itaipu power plant generated 92.245.539 megawatts-hour (MWh).
2. Where does the electricity generated by Itaipu go?
The electricity generated by Itaipu and intended for the Brazilian market is conveyed by Furnas Centrais Elétricas up to the State of São Paulo, from where it can be distributed to the five Brazilian regions, including the north and northeast.
The city of Foz do Iguaçu, the seat of the power plant on the Brazilian riverbank, is supplied with electricity by Companhia Paranaense de Energia (Copel). Itaipu uses its own electricity in the industrial area. In average, 31 MW are consumed every month. The power plant's outside area buildings (Executive Center, Eco-museum, Visitors Reception Center, and Biological Sanctuary) are supplied by Copel.
3. What is Itaipu's power?
Itaipu's installed capacity (power) is 14 thousand megawatts (MW). There are 20 generating units, 700 MW each.
4. How much did Itaipu's construction cost?
The Fixed Assets in the 2010 Balance Sheet, in the amount of US$ 17.4 billion, may represent the price of Itaipu’s construction.
However, that amount incorporates the financial charges incurred during the construction until each generator unit went online.
By not considering such charges we obtain the Direct Investment, which corresponded to US$ 11.8 billion in December 2010. Thus, we have that the direct cost of the undertaking would be approximately US$ 845 per kW installed.
The funds raised for the construction, including financial rollovers, totaled US$ 26.9 billion, in addition to the US$ 100 million in paid-in capital.
5. Which companies built Itaipu?
The construction work at Itaipu was entrusted to consortiums Unicon (Brazilian) and Conempa (Paraguayan), while the electrical-mechanical assembly work was performed by consortiums Itamon (Brazilian) and CIE (Paraguayan). Below are the companies integrating the consortiums.
Unicon: Cetenco Engenharia Ltda.; CBPO – Cia. Brasileira de Pavimentos e Obras; Camargo Corrêa; Andrade Gutierrez; and Mendes Júnior.
Conempa: A Barrail Hermanos; Cia. General de Construcciones; ECCA S.A.; Ing. Civil Hermanos Baumam; Ecomipa – Emp. Const. Min. Paraguaya; and Jimenez Gaona & Lima.
Itamon: A. Araújo S.A. – Engenharia e Montagem; Empresa Brasileira de Engenharia S.A. – EBE; Montreal Engenharia S.A.; Sade – Sul Americana de Engenharia S.A.; Sertep – Engenharia e Montagem S.A.; Techint – Companhia Técnica Internacional; Tenenge – Técnica Nacional de Engenharia S.A.; and Ultratec Engenharia S.A.
CIE – Consórcio de Ingeniería Electromecánica S.A.: AG Brown Boveri & Cie; Alstom Atlantique; Bardella S.A. Indústrias Mecânicas; BSI – Indústrias Mecânicas S.A.; Brown Boveri & Cie. AG; Indústria Elétrica Brown Boveri S.A.; J.M. Voith GmbH; Mecânica Pesada S.A.; Neyrpic; Siemens Aktiengesells-chaft; Siemens S.A.; and Voith S.A. Máquinas e Equipamentos.
6. Is the Chinese Three Gorges power plant larger than Itaipu?
No. Itaipu is the largest power plant on the planet. In 2008, the Brazilian-Paraguayan hydro power plant set its operating record, generating 94.6 million megawatts-hour in the course of the year. The Chinese Three Gorges power plant ranks second, having generated 84.3 million MWh in 2010. In third place is Guri, in Venezuela, which generated 53.4 million MWh in 2008. See below a comparison chart for the highest operating records in history:
| Power plant |
Country |
Top production (millions of MWh per year) |
Year |
Average of the best 4 years
(millions of MWh) |
| Itaipu |
Brazil-Paraguay |
94,68 |
2008 |
93,26 |
| Three Gorges |
China |
84,37 |
2010 |
80,74 |
| Guri |
Venezuela |
53,41 |
2008 |
51,84 |
| Tucurui |
Brazil |
41,43 |
2009 |
39,31 |
Sources: Aneel, Edelca, Three Gorges Dam and China Daily.
7. Why are there two different frequencies, 50 and 60 Hz, at Itaipu?
Of the 20 generating units, ten generate in 50 Hz, which is the Paraguayan frequency, and ten in 60 Hz, the frequency used in Brazil. On the Brazilian side there is a converting station designed to transform into 60 Hz the electricity generated in 50 Hz and not used in Paraguay.
8. What is the power plant's working life given the sanding-up of the lake?
Geologic studies point towards a working life of at least 200 years.
9. Who benefited the most from the construction of Itaipu, Brazil or Paraguay?
Both countries. With Itaipu, Brazil has developed its own technology to build large dams and incorporated to its electricity sector a power plant that currently supplies nearly one fourth of the entire domestic demand. On its turn, Paraguay now counts on enough electricity to supply its needs for the coming decades without having to make any additional investments in the sector, besides having promoted the development of the entire border area.
10. When did the construction of Itaipu start?
The construction of the power plant is the result of intense negotiations between Brazil and Paraguay, which started back in the 60s. On April 26, 1973, the countries signed the Itaipu Treaty, the legal instrument authorizing them to use the Paraná River for hydroelectric purposes. In May, 1974, the company Itaipu Binacional was created to build and manage the power plant. The first two machines arrive on the job site still in 1974.
11. When did Itaipu start generating electricity?
Itaipu started generating electricity in May, 1984.
12. What does the electricity from one generating unit represent?
With only one of the 20 generating units it would be possible to supply a city with a population of 1.5 million people. The State of Rio de Janeiro could be supplied by the electricity generated by a little more than seven of the Itaipu generating units. The States of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul could be supplied at the same time by less than 13 units.
13. Did the formation of the Itaipu reservoir result in any changes to the area's weather behavior?
A study by the Paraná Meteorology System (Sistema Meteorológico do Paraná - Simepar), which started in September 1997 and finished in 2000, showed that the reservoir does not influence the area's weather conditions. Simepar's study confirmed research done by Itaipu since the reservoir was created. The company monitors all weather events, and no scientific data has been recorded showing weather behavior alterations in the course of all these years after the creation of the reservoir in October 1982.
14. Is the Itaipu reservoir the largest artificial lake in Brazil?
No. Itaipu's reservoir is only the seventh largest in Brazil, which shows a better rate of water use to generate electricity. At Itaipu, the production rate is 9.3 MW per square meter (that is, each 0.11 km² of flooded area generates 1 MW). The Itaipu lake started being formed on October 13, 1982. In 14 days, it was full. Below we compare Itaipu's flooded area and its power to the reservoirs and installed capacity of other Brazilian power plants.
| Power Plant |
Flooded area (km²) |
Installed capacity (MW) |
| Itaipu |
1.350 |
14.000 |
| Tucuruí (PA) |
2.430 |
8.370 |
| Porto Primavera (SP) |
2.250 |
1.540
|
|
Sobradinho (BA)
|
4.214
|
1.050
|
15. How is the Itaipu Board of Directors selected?
The Brazilian and Paraguayan governments are responsible for appointing Itaipu's executive board of directors. Six directors are chosen by the Brazilian partner, and the other six, by the Paraguayan partner. Board members are also appointed by the governments of both countries. There are 12 board members, six from each country. Directors remain in office for five years, and board members, four.
16. What is energy?
Energy comes from the Greek word energeia, which means “force in action”. There are many energy sources in nature: sun light, wind or water, for instance, are abundant sources that generate clean, non-pollutant energy. In nature, energy is everywhere: in the power of waterfalls, in plants, animals, volcanic eruptions, sun light, wind.
17. How is electricity measured?
Electricity production and consumption are measured in two ways: demand and supply.
Demand is the amount of electricity being generated or consumed at a given time. It is measured in watts (instant demand) or its multiples: kilowatt (kW), megawatt (MW) and gigawatt (GW).
One of its variants is the MW/h, which refers to the demand over a specific period.
On its turn, electricity is the sum resulting from what was produced over a certain period, a day, for instance. It is measured in watts-hour or its multiples: kilowatt-hour (kWh), megawatt-hour (MWh) and gigawatt-hour (GWh).
18. What is the energy model?
The energy model is the priority given by a country to a certain electricity generation system. Brazil decided that most of the electricity would be generated by hydroelectric power plants. Such power plants are not pollutant because they are water-driven.
19. What is a hydroelectric power plant?
A hydroelectric power plant can be defined as a set of buildings and equipment whose purpose is to generate electricity by using the hydraulic potential existing in rivers.
Hydroelectric generation is associated to the river flow, that is, the amount of water available over a certain time period and at the height of its fall. The higher its fall volumes, the higher its electricity-generating potential. River flows depend on their geological make up, such as width, inclination, soil type, obstacles and falls. They are also determined by the amount of rainfall that feeds them, which makes their electricity production potential vary significantly over time.
The hydraulic potential is established by the hydraulic flow and the concentration of different levels existing along river courses. They can be natural, when the difference in levels is concentrated in a waterfall; or man-made by means of a dam, when small level differences are concentrated at the height of the dam or through the rerouting of rivers from their natural courses, the small level differences being concentrated on such reroutes.
A hydroelectric power plant basically comprises the following parts: dam, water intake and adduction systems, power house, and systems to return the water to the river's natural bed. Each part is a set of buildings and facilities harmoniously designed to operate together.
20. How is hydroelectric energy generated?
At hydroelectric power plants, the water leaving the reservoir is conducted at high pressures through huge pipes up to the power house, where the turbines and electricity generators are installed. The turbine is made up of a series of blades connected to an axis, which on its turn is connected to the generator.
The water pressure causes the turbine axis to turn creating an electromagnetic field within the generator, which then generates electricity. In other words, the hydraulic power is transformed into mechanical power when the water goes through the turbine, causing the latter to turn and, in the generator, which also turns mechanically connected to the turbine, the mechanical power is then transformed into electric power.
21. What are the advantages brought on by the construction of a hydroelectric power plant?
Building a hydroelectric power plant brings on the following benefits:
- Low megawatt cost;
- Clean energy, pollutant-free;
- Job generation;
- Economic development.
22. What are the disadvantages brought on by the construction of a hydroelectric power plant?
Building a hydroelectric power plant brings on the following disadvantages:
- Expropriation of productive land by the flooding;
- Environmental impacts, such as the loss of land animals and plants;
- Social impacts, such as the relocation of residents and expropriation of land;
- Interference in fish migration;
- Alterations to river animal life;
- Loss of historic and cultural heritage, besides alterations to economic activities and traditional use of the land.
23. What are the environmental impacts created by the construction of a power plant?
The construction of dams and power plants requires a huge land area to be flooded in order to create the lake, and oftentimes alterations to the river bed. The lake, also knows as reservoir, is created when the river waters are blocked up by the construction of a dam.
That alteration to the environment disturbs the life of animals and plants in the area, besides dramatically changing the landscape and many times destroying natural beauties. People living in the area are also afflicted and have to move away on account of the flooding.
24. Does Itaipu pay to use Brazilian and Paraguayan waters?
Yes. Itaipu pays royalties for the use of water resources belonging to both countries. From 1985 to April 2009, the company has paid approximately US$ 6.6 billion in royalties to Brazil and Paraguay. The payment is established in Annex C of the Itaipu Treaty. On the Brazilian side, the resources benefit 16 cities, 15 of them in the State of Paraná and one in Mato Grosso do Sul. The royalties are applied to improve the population's quality of life, in education, health, housing and sewer systems.
25. How do I assemble a scale model?
To assemble a technical scale model, follow the instructions below.
Select the object, location or land area.
Find out the size of what you intend to duplicate. In the case of land areas, the site's contour lines must also be obtained.
Determine what you want your scale model to look like so you can choose the building material.
On paper, duplicate the individual pieces of what you want using the desired scale.
Usually, smaller scales are used for details and larger scales when it comes to large areas.
For example, scales 1:20 or 1:25, sometimes even smaller, are used for details, and 1:1.000 or 1:2.000, sometimes larger, for land or large areas.
To understand the relationship between scales, consider that a 1:1 scale means that each meter is really equivalent to one meter. Ordinary school rulers employ a 1:100 scale, that is, each centimeter marked correspond to one meter.
The construction itself should start at the base, which can be made of plywood, resilient cardboard, Styrofoam, acrylic, etc.
The lower section of the selected object, location or land should be the first one assembled, be it the first contour line, the floor or foundation of a location or equipment.
Next, start adding the structures or the terrain, always following the design of the object.
A scale model can be constructed using disposable materials such as Styrofoam articles, colaminated films found in cold cuts packaging, toothpicks, sawdust for vegetation, etc., or with materials found in specialty stores and stationery stores, like Paraná paper, colaminated paper, acrylic or PVC sheets, etc.
The scale model may duplicate the actual figure chosen in terms of colors and details, or without details – volumetric – and in a single color.
