The Itaipú Binational Entity celebrated on Saturday 52 years since its founding, which took place in May 1974, when the first Board of Directors and Executive Board were formed in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The plant, one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world, began construction in January 1975 and entered operation in May 1984 with the first of its 20 generating units.
Currently, Itaipú supplies about 90% of Paraguay's electricity consumption and 7% of Brazil's demand, harnessing the flow of the Paraná River on the border between Hernandarias (Paraguay) and Foz do Iguaçu. In a statement, the entity said the construction was the result of intense diplomatic, technological and financial negotiations between the two countries, which began in the 1960s, and that the plant represents an “example of integration” that turned a border dispute into a monumental work.
Among recent milestones, in November 2024, Itaipú earned the Guinness World Record for the largest accumulated hydroelectric energy production, surpassing 3.038 billion megawatt-hours since 1984. In 2016, the plant also set the world record for annual generation, with 103,098,366 MWh. It is currently the third most powerful hydroelectric plant in the world, behind China's Three Gorges and Baihetan, and the second largest in installed capacity, behind only Three Gorges.