after iguacu, we drove over to the itaipu hydroelectric power plant. the dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world (energy production) and is one of the 7 modern wonders of the world (according to the american society of mechanical engineers). the plant only has 20 turbines, but produces all of paraguay’s electricity plus 20% of brazil’s. a few other interesting facts:

the water flow going through each turbine is equivalent to about half of the water passing through iguacu (under normal conditions).

paraguay only needs about 1.5 turbines to power the entire country!

the flooded area used to house the tallest waterfall in the world (7 falls?), but (according to the guide) since brazil and paraguay could never agree on ownership, they decided to just destroy it.

paraguay and brazil split everything from the dam 50/50. there are 50% brazilians working there and 50% paraguayans (according to the guide, they speak portanol). at the main control center, there are 2 paraguayans and 2 brazilians….plus a manager, who switches between brazilian and paraguayan every 6 hours. even the power leaving the plant is split evenly: 50% goes to brazil (60hz) and 50% to paraguay (50hz). since paraguay only uses 14% of their allotted energy, they resell the remaining 86% to brazil, who then needs to convert it to 60hz. the list of inefficiencies caused by their ridiculous arrangement goes on and on.