Concessionaire or permit holders of public service distribution, generation or transmission of electric energy in Brazil are required by law to apply annually a minimum percentage of their net operating revenue in the Research and Technical Development Program of the Energy Sector, as regulations established by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel).

Itaipu is not subject to this legislation because of its [+] unique legal nature. However, aware of the importance of strategically addressing Research, Development and Innovation (R&D+I) actions, the plant has made this commitment explicit in its Policy and Fundamental Guidelines, Strategic Objectives and Binational Sustainability Policy.

Among the areas of interest in the company in R&D+I are: energy production, dam safety, plant modernization, environment, information technology, social technology, renewable energy sources and sustainable electric mobility.

Some initiatives are driven by Itaipu Corporate University and managed by the plant areas concerned. Others are conducted through agreements signed with partner institutions as the [+] Itaipu Technological Park Foundation (FPTI), an institution established in 2006 and maintained by the binational.

The partnership with FPTI has been and will continue to be essential for Itaipu to reach the next decade as the generator of clean, renewable energy with the best operating performance and the world’s best sustainability practices. To contribute to this process, technicians and researchers of the technology park will be involved in infrastructure projects such as technological modernization of the plant, in order to provide a major role of FPTI in the future. In addition, efforts to strengthen the culture of patents and the creation of indicators to assist in understanding the results in the generation of innovative business are underway.

In the last three years it has been an increase in the number of installed operating research laboratories; growing demands from Itaipu that resulted in the development of products already deployed in the plant; and significant increase in research areas that had as a result theses, dissertations, monographs and company interest products.

An example of results in scientific initiatives was the graduation of the first class of the Inter-Institutional PhD in Numerical Methods in Engineering, installed on FPTI from a partnership between the plant, the Federal University of Paraná and the State University of West Paraná. Of the 22 theses defended, 21 are new research aimed at Itaipu, specifically on dam safety issues, in addition to several scientific articles published on the subject (40 publications inly in 2015). Research will continue now within the Center for Advanced Studies in Dam Safety (Ceasb).

Also in 2015, Itaipu has partnered with the Getulio Vargas Foundation to contribute to the promotion of research for the development of the energy sector, which will benefit the binational itself and others in the industry. The agreement, with a minimum duration of five years, guarantees Itaipu access to studies, publications, forecasts and analyzes of the energy market and its indicators produced by the institution’s Energy Research Center, for use in decision-making processes of the company. As sponsor, the binational may also recommend topics for studies and research to be developed by teams of doctors, masters and experts.