ATOME PLC says its US$35/MWh Paraguay power offer is unworkable
The developer awaits new tariff terms from state utility ANDE for Villeta, its US$665M green fertiliser development.
Ines Halvorsen
On Oct. 9, a US$35 per megawatt-hour opening power tariff for the US$665 million Villeta fertiliser development was declared unworkable by ATOME PLC LONATOM, according to its project update. ATOME said funding commitments for the US$665 million development relied on a viable electricity price, while delays were limiting its options under existing contracts. Paraguay's state utility ANDE was the prospective counterparty for a long-term power agreement with staged rates over the first 10 years of production.
The Oct. 9 update says the proposed tariff would have applied for the first five production years after a four-year build. It would then have risen to US$37 per megawatt-hour for another five years before moving to the standard industrial rate. ATOME did not give that standard rate or a replacement price.
The company now wants an urgent tariff counterproposal. Its Oct. 9 release sets no deadline for one and announces no signed replacement power purchase agreement. It also gives no revised construction start date for the plant.
In a Sept. 17 press release, ATOME said it would serve Paraguay with a notice of dispute that day under the UK-Paraguay investment treaty. The Oct. 9 release says it subsequently served the notice but does not state when. Neither release includes the notice itself, so its terms have not been independently reviewed here.
The Sept. 17 release describes a three-month period for discussions before ATOME might submit a claim to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington. Without a verified service date, the releases do not establish a calendar expiry for that period. ATOME's Oct. 9 statement says a claim, if submitted after failed settlement talks, would seek damages well into nine figures in US dollars.
ATOME Lists Its Existing Funding Agreements
ATOME said in its Sept. 17 release that it had made an unconditional final investment decision in May 2026 after arranging US$665 million of project finance. The financing package included development finance institutions and private infrastructure investors, the company said.
It described a US$465 million fixed-price construction contract and a minimum 10-year agreement for all of Villeta's fertiliser output. The Sept. 17 release said ATOME's other projects were unaffected by the Villeta dispute.
The Oct. 9 release says commitments from development finance institutions assumed an investable power tariff.
ATOME says the delay has prejudiced its financing, construction and offtake options. It reports costs and losses from the delay but gives no amount, and its statement does not put a date on a restart of construction.
"As timing is absolutely critical, ATOME awaits, without prejudice or limitation to its rights under the BIT, a counter-proposal that ensures viability and bankability of the Project combined with an urgent resolution," the company said in its Oct. 9 release.
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ATOME awaits a tariff counterproposal from ANDE and Paraguay's government. As of Oct. 9, it had disclosed neither a date for that response nor a date for any arbitration filing.
