MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Yacyretá: Construction resumes at Aña Cuá arm

Costs have increased sharply after the original estimates in 2019

Paraguay and Argentina officially restarted construction Thursday on the Aña Cuá arm of the Yacyretá-Apipe hydroelectric dam, ending a two-year paralysis caused by financial disputes.

 The “machinization” project is designed to install three vertical-axis Kaplan turbines, which will contribute 270 megawatts to the binational facility, increasing its total power generation by 10%. This additional power is tantamount to the energy needed to supply a city of 100,000 inhabitants.

Paraguayan Director General of the Yacyretá Binational Entity (EBY) Luis Benítez assured that the resources for the project's completion are now guaranteed. He credited a recent agreement with Argentina, which set the hydroelectric production tariff at US$28 per MWh, allowing the EBY to finance the remaining work with its own funds.

Benítez said that the final cost of the project is estimated at around US$620 million, despite the original contract value in 2019 being approximately US$302 million, of which some US$200 million has already been spent, with a recent addendum of US$50 million bringing the cost of civil works to around US$230 million.

The project, which is currently 37% complete, will be executed by a consortium led by Italy’s Webuild. Officials project that the first of the three turbines will be operational by July 2028.

The construction restart is expected to create significant employment, with around 900 direct jobs on both sides of the border, and over 1,000 people across the project as a whole.

Benítez also highlighted that the project was restarted through diplomatic efforts, including an intervention by Paraguayan President Santiago Peña with representatives of the construction consortium during a recent trip to Italy.

Paraguayan officials, including the President of the National Electricity Administration (ANDE), Félix Sosa, underscored the need for expansion, citing 18% growth in Paraguay's energy consumption over the last year.