6. South America

More than a third of the electricity generated in South America comes from renewable sources. Hydropower plays a major role, contributing nearly a quarter of the continent's electricity production. . The IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, now the World Bank), having made a major contribution to financing the post-war reconstruction of Europe and Japan, then turned its attention to dam construction in South America. The Itaïpu dam, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, with a capacity of 12 GW, was for a long time the largest dam in the world, before the construction of the Three Gorges dam in China.

...