YacyretÃ¡ Dam

The Entidad Binacional Yacyretá ( Bi-national corporation Yacyretá; Guaraní: jasy Reta, Land of the Moon ') is a dam and a hydroelectric plant on the Paraná, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina. The Entidad Binacional Yacyretá located 35 km west of the Argentine city of Posadas and 200 km east of Corrientes in the Apipé waterfalls in the Paraguayan city Ayolas. The dam also serves to flood control.

The dam

The dam was filled from homogeneous soil material and has an impermeable core. Various claims that he is up to 70 or even 75 m or only 9-42 m high. The total volume of the dam is 65.9238 million cubic meters, that of the main structure (? ) 3,400,000 m³. His length is specified differently. It is located 64.7 to 66.5 kilometers. With this enormous length is the dam of one of the longest in the world. An increase from 76 to 83 m should be planned.

Environmental problems

This was completed in 1992 and dedicated in 1998 hydroelectric power plant, which is one of the largest in the world, was co-financed by the World Bank and is ecologically highly controversial. Unlike the up-river power plant Itaipu the Paraná not flowed largely in a valley, which is reflected by the enormous length of the dam of 66.5 km in this area. The water of the heavily polluted by rotting biomass reservoir contaminated groundwater around.

Power generation

Despite the 1,600 km ² compared to the world's most productive hydroelectric power station Itaipu ( 1350 km ² ) is significantly larger area of the reservoir, the twenty turbines clearly produce a flow rate of 700 ( 830 according to other sources ) m³ / s less power. The installed capacity is reported variously in 2700-4050 megawatts ( Itaipu: 14,000 megawatts). The power plant can thus cover about a quarter of the Argentine consumption. The electricity produced annually by 18 to 20 million MWh ( Itaipu. Maximum 95 million MWh) goes all the way to Argentina. Since Argentina has financed the project, Paraguay deposited in this way from its 50% interest in the project.

In 2011, the output of the plant to 80 % of the maximum power had to be limited, as it had come to cavitation damage to the turbines.

The shipping bypasses the dam through a lock system.