Debt - Non-Recourse Debt Narrative (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021	Mar. 31, 2020
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Proceeds From Issuance Of Nonrecourse Debt	$ 307	$ 406
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(1)	$ (1)
AES Brasil [Domain] \| Nonrecourse Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Proceeds From Issuance Of Nonrecourse Debt	$ 140

Difference between the fair value of payments made and the carrying amount of debt which is extinguished prior to maturity.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 470
-SubTopic 50
-Section 40
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123467658&loc=d3e12355-112629

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 470
-SubTopic 50
-Section 40
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123467658&loc=d3e12317-112629

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123570139&loc=d3e3602-108585

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration