Paraguay’s state energy company ANDE plans to allow all special electricity supply contracts for crypto miners to expire on December 31, 2027. The decision is linked to growing domestic electricity demand and competition from companies developing artificial intelligence and data centers, CoinDesk reports.
Miners hold contracts for approximately 944 MW of capacity, or about 13% of Paraguay’s share of the Itaipu hydropower plant’s capacity. According to ANDE, they pay a fixed rate of $44 per MWh without annual revisions. The company expects to receive $350 million from crypto miners in 2026, compared with $295 million a year earlier. In the second quarter, mining companies in the country accounted for about 4% of the Bitcoin network’s global computing power.
Proposal to limit consumption
In July, ANDE’s engineers’ association proposed setting a joint limit of 700 MW for crypto mining, AI, and data centers from January 1, 2028. Capacity is proposed to be allocated through an auction, with a minimum price set at $56 per MWh under contracts lasting from three to five years. This proposal has not yet been adopted.
The engineers also approached ANDE President Miguel Báez with a proposal to hold a closed tender. According to their calculations, a rate of $60 per MWh for 700 MW could bring the company approximately $98 million more per year than miners’ current payments.
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Contract for an AI project
On October 22, ANDE signed a 15-year agreement with Paraguayan company Kuntur, linked to Araico Corporation, to supply up to 286 MW. Araico supports the planned $12 billion Iguazú AI City AI campus in the Iguazú area. Supply is to begin with 6 MW on December 1 and increase to 146 MW in April 2028.
The average price for the larger share of the volume under the Kuntur contract is $48.91 per MWh and will rise annually in line with U.S. inflation, but by no less than 2.5%. If the 700 MW limit is approved and Kuntur’s capacity is counted toward it, miners will have less than 560 MW remaining—less than three-fifths of their current contracted volumes.
HIVE Digital Technologies is most dependent on the expiration of the contracts: its two mining sites in Paraguay have agreements for 200 MW in Iguazú and 100 MW in Valenzuela, valid until the end of 2027. As of April 30, these facilities accounted for about 297 MW out of the company’s 385 MW of deployed mining capacity.
