Thursday, March 19, 2009

Foz do Iguacu, Itaipu












Itaipu is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. It is owned jointly by Brazil and Paraguay, each country owns half of the dam's capacity. But, since Paraguay did not have any money to help build the dam, Brazil payed for the massive project and Paraguay sells Brazil the power that it does not use from the plant, until the balance is paid. That works great for both countries.

Itaipu has 18 turbines, 9 are owned by Brazil, 9 are owned by Paraguay. I think Praguay only uses one of its turbines to power over 90% of the country. While Brazil accepts power from the other 17 turbines and this powers something like 30-40% of their country. This gives you an idea about how underdeveloped Paraguay is.


Here's some pictures. The dam was just so huge. You have to see it to believe it.

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