Paraguay's ANDE chief Miguel Báez sets strategic plan and pursues Itaipú Annex C negotiations

Miguel Báez, an electrical‑engineer with a background at the National Electricity Administration (ANDE), was appointed head of the utility. He said the president gave him five strategic lines: modernising the institution, expanding and upgrading transmission lines and substations, diversifying generation with new solar projects—including a 140 MW plant in the Chaco—meeting an estimated 5,000 MW of new demand, and securing financial sustainability without raising tariffs.

Báez also confirmed that Paraguay continues talks with Brazil over Annex C of the Itaipú treaty, which governs the pricing and sale of surplus electricity from the binational hydro‑dam. Recent agreements raised the price Brazil pays for Paraguayan power to $19.28 per kilowatt‑hour for the next three years, but negotiations are still ongoing to allow Paraguay to sell excess energy on the open market at more competitive terms. The discussions aim to balance technical, political and financial aspects of the arrangement, which currently allocates each country 50 % of the dam’s output.