Itaipú hydroelectric power plant finishes paying off construction debt after 50 years

The company Itaipú Binacional, created by Brazil and Paraguay to build 50 years ago the hydroelectric power plant of the same name, which is currently the second largest in the world, paid yesterday, Tuesday, the last installment of the debt it acquired to execute the project.

The company informed in a press release that the last payment was made to the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), the Brazilian state development entity.

The hydroelectric plant, located on the border between the two countries, came into operation in 1984 and satisfied 90 percent of Paraguay’s consumption and 13 percent of Brazil’s, and is currently the second largest in the world.

The debt settlement was celebrated at the hydroelectric plant’s building by the Brazilian Anatalicio Risden Junior and Paraguayan Manuel María Cáceres Cardozo, general managers.

“This is not an individual achievement; it is a path initiated many years ago, where in the midst of adversities Paraguayans and Brazilians reached agreements that successively presidents of both countries fulfilled to reach the cancellation of the debt in 2023”, expressed Cáceres.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, stated in a video message that the debt payment “demonstrates not only the greatness of this project for the history of our countries but also the path to an even more prosperous future”.

The next step now is the renegotiation of Annex C of the treaty, which states that if one of the partners does not consume 50 percent of the energy it is entitled to, it must sell the surplus to the other at preferential below-market prices.

The Paraguayan government, which does not use the quota in its entirety, is now reviewing this clause with a view to renegotiation.

According to the communiqué, the total debt amounted to US$63.3 billion, used for land expropriation, housing construction, and payment of construction companies.

The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement emphasizing that the hydroelectric power plant has contributed to the planet’s clean energy, with 2.9 billion megawatt hours generated since it began operating.

The project began in April 1973. Its main financiers were the companies Eletrobras, BNDES, Finame, Banco do Brasil, and international banks such as Citibank, Dresdner Bank, Deutsche Bank, Swiss Bank Corporation, and JPMorgan.

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