This week, construction began on the power transformation and computation center infrastructure at Pow.re’s 8.5 hectare site directly adjacent to ANDE’s newly commissioned substation.
On February 26th, 2023, ANDE, Paraguay’s national public utility, energized the first of three 500 kV transmission lines between the Itaipu dam and Yguazu. ANDE President, Felix Sosa, announced on Twitter that Paraguay would “for the first time in history be able to withdraw 100% of the power corresponding to it in the ITAIPU Binacional, thus achieving our national energy sovereignty”. The Itaipu dam is the third largest in the world with a 14 GW production capacity, the ITAIPU Binacional agreement entitles Paraguay and Brazil to consume 50% of this capacity each (historically, Paraguay has sold the bulk of its share of Itaipu power capacity to Brazil).
The project is a singular opportunity to generate emission-free computing power from a world-class hydroelectric power plant, made even more timely as the US energy sector has been plagued with soaring electricity prices due to regional reliance on natural gas. Pow.re Director of Engineering, Maxime Bisaillon stated, ”This is a unique opportunity to access a large amount of 100% renewable power at a competitive price. We believe this set of circumstances doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world” adding, “This further validates our position that stranded sustainable power can be put to use for the mutual benefit of green power producers like Paraguay and HDC enterprises like Pow.re”
When fully operational, the Yguazu site would allow Pow.re to produce an additional estimated 4.5 EH/s (exahash per second) of computing power.
In conjunction with deploying this project, the Company also welcomes Andres Romero and Matthew Carson as advisors. Mr. Romero has an extensive understanding of the South American business landscape and the digital asset mining sector, while Mr. Carson brings a wealth of experience deploying large-scale projects such as Project Spokane and Whinstone. Both advisors formerly held positions at Canaan Creative (NASDAQ: CAN) and Northern Data (ETR: NB2) and are respected industry veterans that will help advance the Company’s business development goals.
