Severe Storm Destroys High-Voltage Power Line and Forces Itaipu Power Plant to Operate at 48% of Its Installed Capacity

Recently, the Itaipu Binational Hydroelectric Plant Reached a Historic Mark of Energy Achieved Sufficient to Supply the World for 19 Hours!

The Itaipu Binational Hydroelectric Plant reported that on Saturday afternoon (10/23), several generating units in the 60 Hz sector were shut down due to a series of disconnection events of 765 kV electricity transmission lines, caused by the storm that affected the region between the cities of Foz do Iguaçu and Ivaiporã, in Brazilian territory.

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Preliminary reports indicated that towers of two transmission lines between the aforementioned locations likely fell. It is worth noting that the Itaipu hydroelectric plant is binational and Paraguay has entered into alert.

Protective Maneuvers at the Plant Were Activated

Due to the emergency, protective maneuvers at the plant were activated after the disconnection of the indicated transmission lines; consequently, this resulted in a reduction in energy generation and water flow passing through the disconnected generating units.

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To compensate for the abrupt decrease in flow, the plant’s gates were opened. This operation is necessary to comply with the provisions of the tripartite agreement between Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil, which establishes limits for the variation of levels at the measurement point downstream of the triple border.

The Technical Directorate indicated that the gates will remain open with the minimum possible flow until the discharged flow at Itaipu is normalized within the planned limits. Currently, the total generation of the hydroelectric plant is 6,700 MW and the discharge is 1,383 m3/s.

No Damage to Itaipu Facilities

Likewise, they reported that there was no damage to the plant’s facilities and that the interconnection with the National Electricity Administration (Ande) was not affected.

The energy production of a hydroelectric plant has a close relationship with the water flow received by its reservoirs, and the water flow also has a direct correlation with rainfall or lack thereof.

Hence the importance of the start of the rainy season this month of October, which, according to meteorological forecasts, will last approximately until April of next year.

Since the second half of 2019, there has been a rainfall recession, which causes the inflow to the Itaipu reservoir to suffer from this situation, simultaneously impacting production.

Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant Reaches 50 Million MWh, Enough Energy to Supply Planet Earth for 19 Hours, Brazil for One Month and Seven Days, and Paraguay for Two Years and 11 Months!

Despite the water crisis that Brazil is facing, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday (10/9), the Itaipu Plant reached the mark of 50 million MWh generated in 2021. This amount of energy would be enough to power planet Earth for 19 hours, Brazil for one month and seven days, and Paraguay for two years and 11 months. “In a year of historic drought, Itaipu is operating at maximum efficiency,” says the Brazilian General Director of Itaipu, General João Francisco Ferreira.

According to him, a relevant factor that contributed to this generation value was Itaipu’s high productivity rate, which is fundamental for the hydroelectric plant to face a year of water scarcity.

The Production of 50 Million MWh is Sufficient to Supply:

Productivity is an index calculated by the relationship between the amount of energy generated and the turbine flow (the volume of water that passed through the generating units, measured in cubic meters per second). It is different from production, which means the absolute amount of energy generated over a specific period (for example, the 50 million MWh produced since the beginning of the year until now).

• The world for 19 hours;
• Brazil for 1 month and 7 days;
• The city of São Paulo for 1 year and 10 months;
• Paraguay for 2 years and 11 months;
• The State of Paraná for 1 year and 7 months;
• The city of Foz do Iguaçu for 86 years.

The Itaipu

With 20 generating units and 14,000 MW of installed capacity, Itaipu Binational is a world leader in the generation of clean and renewable energy, having produced, since 1984, 2.8 billion MWh. The hydroelectric plant is responsible for supplying approximately 11% of all energy consumed by Brazil and approximately 90% of Paraguay.