THE BIGGEST HIDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS:

1. Three Gorges (China)- in constructie / Fluviul Albastru ( Yangtze ) 2. ITAIPU (Brazilia-Paraguay) - Parana - 12.600 MW 3. Grand Coulee (SUA) - Columbia - 6.500 MW 4. Sayano Shushenskaya (Rusia) - 6.400 MW

 CELE MAI MARI BARAJE:

The magnitude of the project also can be demonstrated by the fact that in 1995 Itaipú alone provided 25% of the energy supply in Brazil and 78% in Paraguay. The Spillway is located on the right bank, and it has 14 segmented sluice-gates with a total potential discharge rate of 62,200 cubic meters per second (twice that of the highest flood-level on record).

The volume of iron and steel utilized in the Dam structure would be enough to build 380 Eiffel Towers, and the volume of concrete used in Itaipú represents 15 times the volume utilized to build the Channel Tunnel between France and England. Itaipú is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, according to a worldwide survey conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The article says that " To build [the Itaipú Dam], workers reenacted a labor of Hercules: they shifted the course of the seventh biggest river in the world (Parana´ River, at the Brazil/Paraguay border) and removed more than 50 million tons of earth and rock." According to the magazine, "the true marvel of Itaipú, though, is its powerhouse... a single building that puts out 12,600 megawatts -- enough to power most of California".