Paraguay’s President Peña Renews Push for a New Energy Ministry
PARAGUAY · ENERGY
Key Facts
- —The country Paraguay, a landlocked nation of about 6.1 million, gets most of its power from giant dams shared with Brazil and Argentina.
- —The background Energy policy sits with a vice-ministry inside the public works ministry, and no independent regulator oversees the power market.
- —Why now On 1 October green-hydrogen developer Atome moved to end its power contract with ANDE, the state utility, after price talks failed.
- —What happened On Friday 2 October President Santiago Peña told Radio 780 AM that Paraguay needs a Ministry of Mines and Energy and “a referee”.
- —The numbers Atome’s fertiliser project is worth more than US$600 million; Peña says coming projects could be “even larger than Itaipú”.
- —What it means for you Data-centre, crypto-mining and hydrogen investors would deal with a regulator setting long-term power terms, not ANDE alone.
- —Still open Both draft bills have been public since 13 August; when Congress votes on the energy ministry, and in what form, is unsettled.
Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña has renewed his push for an energy ministry and an independent electricity regulator. He told a radio station on Friday 2 October that the country’s hydropower wealth needs “a much more solid institutional structure”.
The remarks came a day after Atome, a London-listed hydrogen developer, moved to end its power contract with ANDE, the state utility. Paraguayans vote in municipal elections today, Sunday 4 October, a test for Peña before the 2028 general election.
What Peña Said on the Radio
Peña was speaking to Radio 780 AM, an Asunción station, about the Atome dispute, the news site El Trueno reported. “We believe the moment has come for Paraguay to have a more solid institution,” he said.
He described a Ministry of Mines and Energy able “to settle public policy in these two areas”, plus “a regulator, a referee”. A country with so much energy, he said, “requires a much more solid institutional structure”.
He linked the idea to artificial intelligence, calling energy “probably one of the most important assets” of the new technological revolution. He also pointed to unexplored riches “below the ground”, such as uranium, other minerals and rare earths.
He explained the need for a referee with a football image. At school friends play without one, he said, but “when we start playing in a different league, the referee has to come”.
A Plan First Tabled in August
The idea is not new. On 13 August Peña chaired the first meeting of a national electricity roundtable at Mburuvicha Róga, the presidential residence, ABC Color reported.
Spokesman Guillermo Grance announced two draft bills that day, one for the new ministry and one for a power regulator. Both went onto a government website for public comment before going to Congress.
Today the sector is run by the Vice-Ministry of Mines and Energy, La Nación noted on Saturday. That office sits inside the Ministry of Public Works and Communications.
The new energy ministry would raise it to full cabinet rank. In August La Nación reported that the ministry would gather functions now scattered across several bodies.
Those include the vice-ministry, ANDE, the state fuel company Petropar and the binational dams. ANDE itself would remain fully in public hands, Última Hora reported.
Live Market IntelligenceCrypto — Live Market Board
Rio Times · Live Market Intelligence
Crypto — Live Market Board
-0.26%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | 63,384 | -0.26% | -47.24% | 63,552 | 64,346 | 63,305 | 22,774,743,040 |
| ETH | 1,886 | +0.26% | -58.90% | 1,881 | 1,920 | 1,879 | 7,916,475,392 |
| SOL | 75.89 | -0.40% | -60.44% | 76.20 | 76.99 | 75.39 | 1,473,821,056 |
| XRP | 1.01 | -1.15% | -69.07% | 1.02 | 1.02 | 1.01 | 1,144,044,416 |
| BNB | 609.60 | -1.12% | -26.81% | 616.50 | 619.30 | 609.23 | 1,266,706,432 |
| ADA | 0.18 | -1.98% | -78.22% | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.18 | 238,085,632 |
| DOGE | 0.07 | -1.56% | -70.00% | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 553,256,192 |
| AVAX | 6.38 | +1.04% | -74.11% | 6.32 | 6.42 | 6.21 | 248,470,560 |
| LINK | 8.77 | -0.06% | -62.73% | 8.77 | 8.87 | 8.68 | 317,054,880 |
| DOT | 0.78 | -0.75% | -81.11% | 0.79 | 0.80 | 0.78 | 43,490,492 |
| LTC | 45.08 | -0.85% | -65.45% | 45.47 | 45.59 | 44.98 | 143,727,712 |
| BCH | 213.85 | +0.10% | -65.44% | 213.64 | 215.69 | 212.54 | 137,956,688 |
| TRX | 0.34 | +0.28% | -4.73% | 0.33 | 0.34 | 0.33 | 436,576,064 |
| XLM | 0.16 | -1.33% | -64.46% | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 89,559,864 |
| HBAR | 0.07 | -0.53% | -74.67% | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 22,546,186 |
| NEAR | 1.65 | +2.42% | -40.55% | 1.62 | 1.68 | 1.61 | 187,591,264 |
| ATOM | 1.40 | -2.36% | -70.15% | 1.44 | 1.44 | 1.40 | 18,626,964 |
| AAVE | 89.06 | +0.93% | -72.33% | 88.24 | 90.20 | 88.19 | 129,099,704 |
Why the Atome Dispute Matters
Atome, listed on London’s AIM market, plans a green-hydrogen fertiliser plant at Villeta, near the capital. Peña put the investment at more than US$600 million.
The plant needs a long-term, fixed-price power supply to win bank financing. On Thursday 1 October Atome told ANDE it would end their 2022 power purchase agreement on 31 December 2026.
About two weeks earlier it had served notice of a possible arbitration claim under the UK-Paraguay investment treaty. It objects to the revocation of presidential decrees that had guaranteed its power price.
Peña admitted the gap. “The reality is that today we do not have the legal framework, that legal framework does not exist,” he said.
The two decrees, he added, were “little debated, little understood and heavily questioned”. Atome says talks on a new supply deal can continue, and Peña said a new contract “would be viable”, La Tribuna reported.
A Hydropower Giant With Thin Institutions
Paraguay produces far more electricity than it uses, thanks to Itaipú, shared with Brazil, and Yacyretá, shared with Argentina. Itaipú alone supplied about 87 percent of Paraguay’s electricity in 2025, as explained in Itaipú Dam Explained, the Brazil-Paraguay Power Deal.
That cheap, clean power has drawn crypto miners and, more recently, data-centre and hydrogen projects.
Yet ANDE still runs under a law from 1964. A consultant at the August meeting called the plan the first structural change in 62 years.
ANDE is also short of money. At the roundtable’s second meeting, participants said its yearly investment shortfall approaches US$600 million, Última Hora reported on 1 September.
Its 2027 budget cuts physical investment by 22 percent in guaraní terms. The details are in Paraguay’s Power Utility Plans 22% Investment Cut; Itaipú Dam Talks Paused.
Support and Doubts
Mauricio Bejarano, the vice-minister of mines and energy, told La Nación in August that he saw no remaining opposition. He said the energy ministry could be created quickly if Congress and business worked together.
Industry is broadly in favour. Enrique Duarte, president of the Paraguayan Industrial Union, called a regulator the first step towards a deregulated market, the daily HOY reported.
Not everyone agrees, Última Hora reported in September. Two former ANDE officials, technical manager Fabián Cáceres and president Pedro Ferreira, wrote that “this is not the right context” for new bodies.
Peña’s Colorado Party holds majorities in both chambers of Congress. That gives the government the votes it needs, provided the party stays united.
What Comes Next
Peña said he will open an electricity-intensive plant in the city of Limpio within days. Such plants already run on their own contract terms, he noted, outside any general rulebook.
On 1 September the government said both energy ministry bills would go to Congress within ten days, Última Hora reported. The legislative timetable remains open.
Today’s vote will show how much political capital Peña carries into that debate. A preview is in Paraguay Votes Sunday for 263 Mayors, Asunción in Focus.
Nothing changes yet for power users. Tariffs and ANDE’s contracts stay as they are until Congress passes a law, and Atome’s arbitration threat remains on the table.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
What would Paraguay’s new ministry do?
The energy ministry would set policy for energy and mining, taking over from a vice-ministry inside the public works ministry. A separate regulator would act as referee between ANDE and large power users.
Is the plan already law?
No. Two draft bills were published on 13 August for public comment, and the energy ministry still needs approval from Congress.
Why does Atome matter for foreign investors?
Atome planned a green-hydrogen fertiliser plant worth more than US$600 million and has threatened international arbitration. Its dispute shows the risk of building big projects on decrees rather than on law.
Does this change electricity prices in Paraguay?
Not now. Tariffs stay as they are until a new energy ministry and regulator exist and write new rules.
Sources: El Trueno (Radio 780 AM interview), 2 October 2026; La Nación (Paraguay), 3 October 2026; La Tribuna, 4 October 2026; 1000 Noticias, 2 October 2026; Yahoo Finance (Atome), 1 October 2026; ABC Color, 13 August 2026; Diario HOY, 13 August 2026; La Nación (Paraguay), 11 August 2026; Última Hora, 14 August 2026; Última Hora, 1 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief