Editing Itaipu Dam (section)

== History ==
=== Negotiations between Brazil and Paraguay ===
The concept behind the Itaipu Power Plant was the result of serious 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 [[Raúl Sapena Pastor]]. This was a joint declaration of the mutual interest in studying the exploitation of the hydro 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'' watershed. The treaty that gave origin to the power plant was signed in 1973.

The terms of the treaty, which expired 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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Nickson|first=Andrew|title=Paraguay: Lugo versus the Colorado Machine|work=Open Democracy|date=20 February 2008|url=http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/politics_protest/paraguay_fernando_lugo|access-date=3 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803073835/http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/politics_protest/paraguay_fernando_lugo|archive-date=3 August 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mander|first=Benedict|title=Brazil's Itaipú dam treaty with Paraguay up for renewal|work=Financial Times|date=20 September 2017|url=https://www.ft.com/content/bf02af96-7eb8-11e7-ab01-a13271d1ee9c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/bf02af96-7eb8-11e7-ab01-a13271d1ee9c |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 2009, Brazil agreed to a fairer payment of electricity to Paraguay and also allowed Paraguay to sell excess power directly to Brazilian companies instead of solely through the Brazilian electricity monopoly.<ref>{{cite news|date=26 July 2009|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8169139.stm|title=Why Brazil gave way on Itaipu dam|access-date=2009-07-26|work=[[BBC]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726101650/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8169139.stm|archive-date=26 July 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=[[New York Times]]|first=Alexei|last=Barrionuevo|date=July 27, 2009|page=A10|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/world/americas/27paraguay.html|title=Energy Deal With Brazil Gives Boost to Paraguay|access-date=February 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820035519/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/world/americas/27paraguay.html|archive-date=August 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Construction starts ===
In 1970, the [[consortium]] formed by the companies ELC Electroconsult S.p.A. (from Italy) and [[IECO]] (from the United States)<ref>International Engineering Company, Inc. (IECO) was a subsidiary of [[Morrison-Knudsen]]. See {{cite web |title=Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc. |publisher=Baker Library, Harvard Business School |url=http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/company.html?company=morrison_knudsen_company_inc |access-date=2014-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319173455/http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/company.html?company=morrison_knudsen_company_inc |archive-date=2015-03-19 |url-status=live }}</ref>  won the international competition for the realization of the viability studies and for the elaboration of the construction project. Design studies 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 construction began in January of the following year. Brazil's (and Latin America's) first electric car was introduced in late 1974; it received the name [[Gurgel Itaipu|''Itaipu'']] in honor of the project.<ref name="QRweb">{{cite web | url = http://quatrorodas.abril.com.br/classicos/brasileiros/conteudo_229224.shtml | title = Clássicos: Grandes Brasileiros: Gurgel Itaipu | trans-title = Classics: Brazilian Greats: Gurgel Itaipu | language = pt | last = Pereira | first = Fabiano | publisher = Quatro Rodas | date = April 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070830163205/http://quatrorodas.abril.com.br/classicos/brasileiros/conteudo_229224.shtml | archive-date = 2007-08-30 }}</ref>

=== 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 ===
The construction of the dam was first contested by [[Argentina]], but the negotiations and resolution of the dispute ended up setting the basis for Argentine–Brazilian integration later on.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schenoni |first=Luis |title=Regional Power Transitions: Lessons from the Southern Cone |journal=GIGA Working Papers |date=2016 |url=https://www.academia.edu/29398128 |access-date=2017-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920114823/http://www.academia.edu/29398128/Regional_Power_Transitions_Lessons_from_the_Southern_Cone |archive-date=2018-09-20 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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.

=== Formation of the lake ===
{{Main|Itaipu Lake}}
The [[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, heavy rains and flooding accelerated the filling of the reservoir as the water rose {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} and reached the gates of the [[spillway]] on October 27.{{citation needed|date=October 2012|reason=The reservoir rose 100 meters in just 14 days from October 13 to 27?}}

=== Start of operations ===
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 ===
[[Image:Itaipu 3285.jpg|left|thumb|180px|The dam undergoes expansion work.]]
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 GW and completing the power plant. This increase in capacity allows 18 generation units to run permanently while two are shut 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 cannot exceed 18 (see the [[#Agreement by Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina|agreement]] section for more information).

The rated nominal power of each generating unit (turbine and generator) is 700 MW. However, because the [[Hydraulic head|head]] (difference between reservoir level and the river level at the bottom of the dam) that actually occurs is higher than the designed head ({{cvt|118|m|||disp=or}}), the power available exceeds 750 MW half of the time for each generator.
Each turbine generates around 700 MW; by comparison, all the water from the [[Iguaçu Falls]] would have the capacity to feed only two generators.