Standard & Poor’s (S&P) raised the sovereign rating to BBB-/A-3 with a stable outlook, following Moody’s upgrade earlier this year. This upgrade represents international recognition of decades of prudent macroeconomic policies, rooted in the democratic transition that began in the 1990s and culminated under the technical and proactive leadership of President Santiago Peña.

Using technology currently available on the international market (more efficient rotors, redesigned blades, and digital exciters and governors), it is possible to increase capacity to 900–920 MW per unit without touching a single dam wall or altering the reservoir level. The result would be an additional 4,000 MW of baseload power using the same head and the same structure built half a century ago.

The effective energy surplus does not exceed 46%, and the margin for available firm power is even smaller: just 40% of the peak demand of 5,122 MW recorded in March 2025. That margin will be exhausted between 2030 and 2035 according to all serious projections by the World Bank, the IDB, OLADE, and private consulting firms. First, a firm power deficit will emerge—which could occur earlier during years of severe drought—and then an energy deficit.

Paraguay generates hydroelectric power at an average Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of $20/MWh and has a structural surplus that reached 61 TWh annually in 2024. With the gradual opening of the domestic market enabled by Law 6,977/2022 and its implementing regulations, eligible consumers can now contract directly with generators, including binational ones, without being required to go through the National Electricity Administration (Ande).

Our power generation (half from Itaipú, half from Yacyretá, and Acaray) currently ranges between 47,000 and 50,000 GWh annually in average years (moving average for 2022–2025, according to official reports from the Vice Ministry of Mines and Energy).