In December of last year, The Itaipu Binational power plant reached 98,800,319 megawatt-hours (MWh) of power generation, beating the former record held by the Three Gorges plant in China. The mark was reached thirteen hours after Itaipu surpassed its own record of 98.6 million MWh from 2013.
The world record in annual power generation adds to the other title Itaipu already held: highest cumulative production. Since its first generating unit came into operation in May 1984 (exactly 32 years and seven months ago), Itaipu has produced over 2.4 billion MWh, enough energy to power the entire world for 40 days.
The increase in production is also reflected in more royalties (compensation for the exploration of water for the generation of electricity) paid to Brazil and Paraguay. Because the calculation is based on the variation of the dollar – and because the dollar appreciated against the Brazilian real – production royalty transfers will be 15% higher this year. Since the beginning of payments in 1985, the total sum of royalties paid by Itaipu to the two countries increased by US$ 10 billion.