Construction of Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant

The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric power station on the Parana River, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, built and operated jointly by the two countries under a treaty signed in the early 1970s. The giant concrete structure took about a decade to build, and its reservoir began to fill in 1982, drowning the Guaira Falls (Sete Quedas) and displacing many people. Electricity generation started in the mid-1980s. For a long time it was the largest hydroelectric plant in the world in terms of annual output and it remains one of the most productive, supplying the great majority of Paraguay's electricity and a significant share of Brazil's. It was one of the engineering projects most closely linked to the development ambitions of South America's military governments.

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