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Just outside of Foz do Iguaçu is Itaipu Binacional. It’s the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world in terms of generating energy. If you are interested in engineering, it’s well worth a visit.
Getting There
You can get to the dam by public bus or hiring a taxi. All visitors will have go through a security checkpoint with x-ray machines and metal detectors.
Tours
The Panoramic Tour is R$58 (as of February 2024). There are tours running every 30 minutes from 8:30am to 4pm. Visitors board a double decker bus and are taken to viewpoints of the dam, eventually crossing over the dam into Paraguay and back to the visitor’s center. It lasts a little over an hour.
The Special Tour is R$165 (as of February 2024) and includes everything on the Panoramic Tour as well as entry into the power plant itself. This tour runs frequently throughout the day and lasts about 2 ½ hours.
Mural
Since I was short on time, I took the Panoramic Tour. The first part of the tour stops at a viewing platform where there’s a large mural and huge robot sculpture. While on the bus and at the viewing platform, you learn many things about the dam.
I found it very interesting that the dam company created nature reserves, spawning streams for fish, rivers for recreational rafting and rowing, and is building a university for 10,000 engineering students on the grounds.
Paraguay
Part of the tour leaves Brazil and crosses the dam into Paraguay. 90% of the power generated by the dam supplies power to 17% of Brazil, and the other 10% supplies power to 75% of Paraguay. The dam has a capacity 40 times the water that flows over Iguaçu Falls. Itaipu Binacional crosses the Paraná River.
It’s possible to get a nice perspective of the dam from the Paraguayan side. I was especially impressed when crossing over the spillway.
