Document And Entity Information - $ / shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	May. 02, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Trading Symbol	AES
Entity Registrant Name	AES CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000874761
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		659,001,121
Common Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share	$ 0.01		$ 0.01