Risks And Uncertainties (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) segment integer business Rate	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Unusual Risk or Uncertainty [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments \| segment	4
Segment Reporting, Additional Information about Entity's Reportable Segments \| business	2
Cash and Cash Equivalents, at Carrying Value	$ 1,089	$ 1,029
Percentage of Total Revenue Non-U.S.	66.00%
Goodwill, Gross	$ 3,672	$ 3,670
Number Of Single Customers That Accounted For Ten Percent Or More Of Total Revenue \| integer	0
Goodwill, Reporting Unit at Risk, Percentage \| Rate	10.00%
Cash and Cash Equivalents [Member]
Unusual Risk or Uncertainty [Line Items]
Cash and Cash Equivalents, at Carrying Value	$ 1,000
Operating Segments [Member] \| ANDES [Member]
Unusual Risk or Uncertainty [Line Items]
Reporting Unit, Percentage of Fair Value in Excess of Carrying Amount	13.00%	3.00%
Goodwill, Gross	$ 868	$ 868

Goodwill, Reporting Unit at Risk, Percentage

No definition available.

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- Definition

-- None. No documentation exists for this element. --

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	aes_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of Lines of Business

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of Total Revenue Non-U.S.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	aes_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
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-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.1)
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
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-Subparagraph (a)
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-Publisher FASB
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+ Details

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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 18
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120311839&loc=d3e8672-108599

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of fair value of reporting unit in excess of carrying amount.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Details

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- Details

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