The Union of Engineers of ANDE (Paraguay's National Electricity Administration) has proposed a new tariff scheme that includes a 700 MW cap for sectors such as cryptocurrency mining and data centers, as well as the creation of a separate tariff for industries with greater productive linkages, like Atome's green hydrogen project.
For so-called "convergent industries," which encompass data centers, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency mining, the proposal sets a consumption cap equivalent to roughly 10% of the country's installed capacity. Allocation would be done through an auction with a minimum price of $56 per MWh, a value that adds the current technical tariff of $44 to a $12 compensation for the energy that would no longer be exported to Brazil.
For industries with actual production processes and a greater economic impact, the proposal calls for the creation of a specific tariff framework, based on a "technical tariff" separate from the social component that governs residential rates. According to Ubaldo Fernández, former technical manager of ANDE, this value would currently be approximately $44 per MWh.
The engineers justify the 700 MW limit with arguments of operational and economic security. Fernández warned that a 2,000 MW load on a system of about 5,000 MW would be "disruptive" and risky for the reliability of the supply. Manuel Mettel, the union's president, emphasized that the growth in energy demand from these sectors has not translated into an equivalent jump in Paraguay's GDP nor has it clearly improved ANDE's financial situation.
The proposal stipulates that the new scheme would take effect on January 1, 2028, after the current contracts for the Special Intensive Consumption Group expire in December 2027. The auction should be awarded by mid-2027 to provide predictability, with contracts lasting 3 to 5 years.
The Union of Engineers has already presented the proposal to ANDE authorities, who are reportedly preparing their own version of tariff changes. The initiative comes after the repeal of decrees that benefited Atome with a fixed tariff for 15 years and amidst calls for greater transparency regarding the future of the $665 million project in Villeta.