When it is completed in 2015, the Jirau hydroelectric dam will span the Madeira River, feature more giant turbines than any other dam in the world and hold as much concrete as 47 towers the size of New York's Empire State Building.

And then there are the power lines, draped along 2,200 km of forests and fields to carry electricity from the middle of South America to Brazil's urban nerve center, Sao Paulo.

Still, it won't be enough.