Itaipu Dam
25°24′30.42″S 54°35′21.13″W / 25.4084500°S 54.5892028°W
Itaipu (Guarani: Itaipu, Portuguese: Itaipu, Spanish: Itaipú; Portuguese pronunciation: [itaiˈpu], Spanish pronunciation: [itaiˈpu]) is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
The name "Itaipu" was taken from an isle that existed near the construction site. In the Guarani language, [Itaipu] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) means "the sound of a stone". The American composer Philip Glass has also written a symphonic cantata named Itaipu, in honour of the structure.
Itaipu Binacional is the company that runs the largest operational hydroelectric power plant in the world. The dam is second only to the Three Gorges Dam in its generating capacity. [1] It is a binational undertaking run by Brazil and Paraguay at the Paraná River on the border section between the two countries, 15 km north of the Friendship Bridge. The project ranges from Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, in the south to Guaíra and Salto del Guaíra in the north. The installed generation capacity of the plant is 14 GW, with 20 generating units providing 700 MW each. In the year 2008, the generating plant achieved its record of 94.68 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), which supplied 90% of the energy consumed by Paraguay, or 19% of that consumed by Brazil [2].
History
Negotiations between Brazil and Paraguay
The concept behind Itaipu Power Plant was the result of heavy negotiations between the two countries during the 1960s. The "Ata do Iguaçu" (Iguaçu Act) was signed on July 22, 1966, by the Brazilian and Paraguayan Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Juracy Magalhães and Sapena Pastor, respectively. This was a joint declaration of the mutual interest in studying the exploitation of the hydric resources that the two countries shared in the section of the Paraná River starting from, and including, the Salto de Sete Quedas, to the Iguaçu River's watershed. The Treaty that gave origin to the power plant was signed in 1973.
The terms of the treaty, which expires in 2023, have been the subject of widespread discontent in Paraguay. The government of President Lugo vowed to renegotiate the terms of the treaty with Brazil, which long remained hostile to any renegotiation.[3]
In 2009, Brazil agreed to a more fair payment of electricity to Paraguay and also allowed Paraguay to sell directly to Brazilian companies instead of solely through the Brazilian electricity monopoly.[4][5]
Construction starts
In 1970, the consortium formed by the companies IECO (from the United States of America) and ELC Electroconsult S.p.A. (from Italy) won the international competition for the realization of the viability studies and for the elaboration of the construction project. Work began in February 1971. On April 26, 1973, Brazil and Paraguay signed the Itaipu Treaty, the legal instrument for the hydroelectric exploitation of the Paraná River by the two countries. On May 17, 1974, the Itaipu Binacional entity was created to administer the plant's construction. The works began in January of the following year.
Paraná River rerouted
On October 14, 1978, the Paraná River had its route changed, which allowed a section of the riverbed to dry so the dam could be built there.
Agreement by Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina
An important diplomatic settlement was reached with the signing of the Acordo Tripartite by Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, on October 19 1979. This agreement established the allowed river levels and how much they could change as a result of the various hydroelectrical undertakings in the watershed that was shared by the three countries. At that time, the three countries were ruled by military dictatorships. Argentina was concerned that, in the event of a conflict, Brazil could open the floodgates, raising the water level in de la Plata River and consequently flood the capital city of Buenos Aires.
Formation of the lake
The plant's reservoir began its formation on October 13 1982, when the dam works were completed and the side canal's gates were closed. Throughout this period, water rose 100 meters (330 ft) and reached the gates of the spillway at 10:00 AM on October 27 due to the heavy rains and flooding that took place at the time.
Start of operations
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On May 5, 1984, the first generation unit started running in Itaipu. The first 18 units were installed at the rate of two to three a year; the last two of these started running in the year 1991.
Capacity expansion in 2007
The last two of the 20 electric generation units started operations in September 2006 and in March 2007, thus raising the installed capacity to 14,000 MW and completing the power plant. This increase in capacity will allow for 18 generation units to remain running all of the time while two stay down for maintenance. Due to a clause in the treaty signed between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, the maximum number of generating units allowed to operate simultaneously can not exceed 18 (see the agreement section for more information).
The rated nominal power of each generating unit (turbine and generator) is 700 MW. However, because the head (difference between reservoir level and the river level at the foot of the dam) that actually occurs is higher than the designed head, the power available exceeds 750 MW half of the time for each generator.
Each turbine generates around 700 megawatts; for comparison, all the water from the Iguaçu Falls would have the capacity to feed only two generators.
Power transmission
Of the currently 18 generator units installed, 9 of them generate in 50 Hz, the grid frequency of Paraguay and 9 generate in 60 Hz, the Brazilian grid frequency. There's also a power converter on the Brazilian side that allows the transformation of 50 Hz into 60 Hz energy that is not used in Paraguay.
"Wonder of the Modern World"
In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers elected the Itaipu Dam as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. In 1995, the American magazine Popular Mechanics published the results.
Social Impact
When construction of the dam began, approximately 10,000 families living beside the Paraná River were dislodged, in order to make way for the dam. Many of these families sought refuge in the town of Medianeira, a town not far from the confluence of the Iguaçu and Paraná Rivers. Some of these families eventually came to be members of one of Brazil's largest social movements, the MST, or Landless Workers Movement.[6]
Statistics
Construction
- The course of the seventh biggest river in the world was shifted; as was 50 million tons of earth and rock.
- The amount of concrete used to build the Itaipu Power Plant would be enough to build 210 football stadiums the size of the Estádio do Maracanã.
- The iron and steel used would allow for the construction of 380 Eiffel Towers.
- The volume of excavation of earth and rock in Itaipu is 8.5 times greater than that of the Channel Tunnel and the volume of concrete is 15 times greater.
- Around forty thousand people worked in the construction [citation needed].
Generating station and dam
- The total length of the dam is 7235 m. The crest elevation is 225 m. Itaipu is actually four dams joined together - from the far left, an earth fill dam, a rock fill dam, a concrete main dam, and a concrete wing dam to the right.
- The maximum flow of Itaipu's fourteen segmented spillways is 62.2 thousand cubic metres per second. It is equivalent to 40 times the average flow of the Iguaçu Falls.
- The flow of two generators (700 m³·s−1 each) is roughly equivalent to the average flow of the Falls (1500 m³·s−1).
- If Brazil were to use Thermal Power Generation to produce the electric power of Itaipu, 434,000 barrels (69,000 m3) of petroleum would have to be burned every day.
- The dam is 196 metres high, equivalent to a 65-story building.[7]
- Though it is the seventh largest reservoir in size in Brazil, the Itaipu's reservoir has the best relation between electricity production and flooded area. For the 14,000 MW installed power, 1350 square kilometres were flooded. The reservoirs for the hydroelectric power plants of Sobradinho, Tucuruí, Porto Primavera, Balbina, Serra da Mesa and Furnas are all larger than the one for Itaipu, but have a smaller installed generating capacity. The one with the largest hydroelecric production, Tucuruí, has an installed capacity of 8,000 MW, but it had to flood 2,430 square kilometres of land.
Generation
| Year | Number of installed units |
GWh |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 0–2 | 277 |
| 1985 | 2–3 | 6,327 |
| 1986 | 3–6 | 21,853 |
| 1987 | 6–9 | 35,807 |
| 1988 | 9–12 | 38,508 |
| 1989 | 12–15 | 47,230 |
| 1990 | 15–16 | 53,090 |
| 1991 | 16–18 | 57,517 |
| 1992 | 18 | 52,268 |
| 1993 | 18 | 59,997 |
| 1994 | 18 | 69,394 |
| 1995 | 18 | 77,212 |
| 1996 | 18 | 81,654 |
| 1997 | 18 | 89,237 |
| 1998 | 18 | 87,845 |
| 1999 | 18 | 90,001 |
| 2000 | 18 | 93,428 |
| 2001 | 18 | 79,307 |
| 2002 | 18 | 82,914 |
| 2003 | 18 | 89,151 |
| 2004 | 18 | 89,911 |
| 2005 | 18 | 87,971 |
| 2006 | 19 | 92,690 |
| 2007 | 20 | 90,620 |
| 2008 | 20 | 94,684 |
| Total | 20 | 1,668,895 |
See also
References
- ^ "Power: World's biggest hydroelectric facility". USGS. Retrieved May 18 2006.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|dateformat=ignored (help) - ^ Folha (2009). "Itaipu bate recorde de produção de energia, mas perde participação no consumo". Folha Online. Retrieved January 02 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|dateformat=ignored (help) - ^ Nickson, Andrew, (2008) Paraguay: Lugo versus the Colorado Machine, Open Democracy 20 February 2008 http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/politics_protest/paraguay_fernando_lugo
- ^ Why Brazil gave way on Itaipu dam. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ New York Times, July 27, 2009, Energy Deal With Brazil Gives Boost to Paraguay
- ^ Branford, Sue and Jan Rocha. Cutting the Wire: The Story of the Landless Movement in Brazil. London: Latin American Bureau, 2002.
- ^ "Itaipu binacional - Technical data - Comparisons". Retrieved February 16 2007.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|dateformat=ignored (help)
External links
- Itaipu Company Site(in Portuguese, English, and Spanish)
- Introduction
- Power conversion
- Power conditioning
- The Itaipu Transmission System
- Alstom, one of the hydro turbines and generators manufacturer for this project
- ELC-Electroconsult
- Voith-Siemens Hydro Power Generation, one of the hydro turbines and generators manufacturer for this project
- Article on Brazil`s Thermoelectric Priority Program Author`s updated contact information at www.brazillawconsulting.com
- A Google's map view of Itaipu