Bolivia's next goal, after its recent foray into the Argentine electricity market, is to export electricity to the regional giant: Brazil.
At the end of February, the Bolivian press highlighted that the country had exported 188,605.10 MWh of electricity in 2024, in the first phase of this energy-related activity, at an average rate of around US$100 per unit.
They also explained that exports to Argentina are carried out through the Bolivia-Argentina international interconnection line, “Juana Azurduy de Padilla,” a 132 kV, 120-kilometer long line between the Yaguacua (Bolivia) and Tartagal (Argentina) substations.
They also noted that in the last three years, Bolivia has tripled its capacity, going from 1,000 MW to 3,500 MW. It should be noted that Acaray, the national power plant, has an installed capacity of 220 MW, while the binational Yacyretá has 3,100 MW.
They added that of that total, 1,600 MW are used to meet domestic demand for electricity, and the surplus is allocated to the external market.
IN SEARCH OF THE DESIRABLE BRAZILIAN MARKET
El País reiterates that the feasibility study for sending electricity to Brazil will be completed next May, "increasing the added value of gas through thermoelectric plants."
The news outlet specifies that the reference project directs an electrical interconnection infrastructure from the Germán Guasch province of Santa Cruz to the Brazilian Electric Power System for the installation of a 500 kV interconnection line, to the Corumbá node, in the first phase, and to the Jauru node, in the second.
Details the material that was managed in 2024 with the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Brazil for the completion of the studies through the Energy Research Company (EPE) of Brazil.
He added that they formed a team with specialists from ENDE, the National Load Dispatch Committee, and the Vice Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy to coordinate and respond to the initial information request for the evaluation of the energy exchange of up to 1,000 MW of power (equivalent to the power of four power plants and a bit more than the capacity of Acaray).
IN JUST FIVE MONTHS THEY WILL HAVE THE FEASIBILITY STUDY READY
The study began with a request for information in December of last year, and its completion is scheduled for May of this year, El País adds.
These media outlets highlight that Bolivia "is aiming to become a major supplier of electricity in the region, after having been a major seller of gas. Paraguay's activity in this sector, comparatively, leaves much to be desired. Actual exports, whose prices are aligned with regional energy market values, were almost negligible last year: 97,957 MWh, barely 0.4% of the country's consumption in 2024.
The other line of this "commercial" activity in the country is the "transfer of energy" to its partners in Itaipu and Yacyretá. In the first case, in 2024, Paraguay transferred 13,161,000 MWh, equivalent to half of the electricity demanded by the national market in 2024.
US$ 100/MWH, AGAINST US$ 10/MWH
Meanwhile, Yacyretá, despite improving the local utilization rate of its production, was also significant: 2,928,500 MWh, almost 30 times more than the amount "actually exported" by the National Electricity Administration (ANDE) in 2024.
Regarding the tariff, or the unit value of compensation for energy transfers paid by the binational companies to Paraguay, it is as follows: US$100/MWh in the first case, and just around US$10/MWh for each MWh transferred in Itaipu and Yacyretá.
