In the first nine months of this year, the National Electricity Administration of Paraguay (ANDE) withdrew 30% of the energy available at the Paraguayan/Argentine Yacyretá power plant, 70% of which was injected into the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI), according to official Argentine sources.

According to Article XIII of the Yacyretá Treaty, we will see that, despite the repeated expressions of desire of the Paraguayan authorities in power, between January and September 2024, the Guaraní country ceded 39.7% of its energy to the Argentine system.

According to data published on Instagram by the Argentine departments of the Yacyretá Binational Entity (EBY), as well as by the Wholesale Electricity Market Administration Company, Sociedad Anónima (Cammesa), between January and September, the energy available at the Paraguayan/Argentine plant reached 11,692 GWh (1 GWh = 1000 MWh).

According to the same sources, which ABC Color consulted due to the decision of the Paraguayan offices of EBY to close theirs to the press and the general public since the arrival of its new administrators, in the nine months it withdrew 3,522 GWh from the plant, while SADI received 8,170 GWh, in relative numbers, 30.123% and 69.876% respectively.

If we reduce our field of observation to half of Yacyretá's production that corresponds to our country, by dividing the total, 11,692 GWh by two, we will conclude that in the period under study it was 5,846 GWh.

PARAGUAY STILL GIVES 40% OF ITS ENERGY TO ARGENTINA

Given that in those nine months of this year, ANDE withdrew 3,422 GWh from the binational power plant, we can conclude that, strictly speaking, ANDE withdrew 60.25% of Paraguayan energy, and that it transferred 2,314 MWh to the Argentine system, or 39.7%.

Therefore, the statement made by Paraguayan financial chief Federico Vergara in an interview with a TV programme in Encarnacion, part of which was reproduced by our newspaper last Wednesday, lacks rigour.

"In recent months, Paraguay has been withdrawing the energy that corresponds to it (its 50%) and, therefore, there are no new debts for energy transfer..." said the Paraguayan financial chief in the reference interview, according to ABC's publication last Wednesday.

The real situation at EBY is that between January and September 2024, Paraguay withdrew, despite the propagandistic announcements of increases in the Paraguayan rate for the use of Yacyretá energy, only 30% of the total available and Argentina, therefore, 70%.

THEN YES, THERE ARE ALSO NEW ARGENTINE DEBTS

As for Paraguayan energy, the records prove that we still had a considerable surplus that the Argentine system took advantage of: 2,324 GWh, 40% of the Paraguayan half, whose value, which is around US$ 10/MWh, must be added to the debt that Argentina still has with our country for energy transfer.