AIM-listed ATOME Energy, the only pure international green hydrogen and ammonia production company on the London Stock Exchange with current large scale projects in Europe and South America as well as hydrogen mobility projects, notes the announcement by Paraguay's National Electricity Administration ('ANDE') concerning a top level visit to the UK which concluded last week. A translation of the announcement is set out below.
Paraguayan electricity opens doors for investments worldwide
The president of the National Electricity Administration, Eng. Félix Sosa, accompanied by the Director of Planning and Studies, Eng. Tito Ocariz, and the Financial Manager, Lic. Sonia Rojas, participated in round tables with investors, bankers, engineers and representatives of the British government, during a recent working visit to London.
The purpose of it was to deepen and promote the potential of green hydrogen in Paraguay, as well as its value chain. Mr. Félix Sosa presented the state of the Paraguayan electricity system, the level of investment that ANDE is developing and the potential provided by clean and renewable electricity for the development of the country.
The delegation headed by the head of ANDE held working meetings with the investors of the ATOME Paraguay project, led by Mr. Peter Levine (President) and Mr. Olivier Mussat (CEO) of that company, who were accompanied by the Project Manager of Paraguay, Mr. Juan Pablo Nogués.
The ATOME project in Paraguay advances with the engineering design for the green ammonia plant (derived from green hydrogen) in the city of Villeta, where it will have the capacity to produce up to 100,000 tons of green ammonia per year, with a projected start by 2025. This plant includes an investment of approximately USD 200 million and the creation of approximately 4,000 jobs directly and indirectly. The ATOME project in Villeta for its first phase aims at about 120 MW of power, for the production of hydrogen and green ammonia.
In addition, representatives of the engineering companies AECOM, URBAS Energy and CASALE participated in the meetings. These companies are assisting in the design of the processes and construction engineering of the ATOME industrial plant. The team of engineers gave the details of the potential of green ammonia in Paraguay and mentioned that green ammonia can be used as a raw material for the production of national green fertilizers at a lower cost and with zero carbon footprint.
Currently, Paraguay, whose economy is highly dependent on the agricultural sector, imports more than 1.4 million tons of fertilizers per year worth more than USD 600 million. According to the engineers responsible for the project in question, the green product will supply a large part of the country's ammonia fertilizer market, thus creating a national product at a more competitive price for the agricultural sector, thus promoting greater agricultural productivity. Moreover, it was indicated that Paraguay could become a net exporter of fertilizers.
The president of ANDE and delegation also visited the factory of Clean Power Hydrogen (CPH2), a hydrogen technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange, located in the city of Doncaster, accompanied by the Ambassador of Paraguay in the United Kingdom, Genaro Pappalardo. During the visit they observed the progress of the 1 MW electrolyzer that the company ATOME is building for the project focused on the decarbonization of the transport sector in Paraguay.
The ATOME electrolyzer is planned to arrive in Paraguay by the beginning of the second half of this year and will initially be producing 450 kg of green hydrogen per day, to supply light vehicles powered 100% hydrogen and heavy-duty trucks that will be powered by a mixture of green hydrogen and diesel, thus reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and, therefore, improving air quality.
In working meetings, President Félix Sosa explained to the bank Natixis about the robustness of the Paraguayan electricity system, the competitive rate offered by ANDE worldwide and the amount of investments indicated in the ANDE Master Plan 2021 - 2030 for Transmission and Distribution, and 2021 - 2040 for Generation Works. The head of ANDE also indicated that financing for infrastructure works has been increased from an average of USD 50 million during the first decade of the century to an average of USD 300 million during the last three years, and for this year, the goal is to exceed that amount. These investments will be key to providing reliability and robustness to the system and also to be able to take advantage of 100% of ITAIPU's energy that corresponds to Paraguay.
Finally, the president of ANDE held an audience with Minister Andrew Bowie, from the Department of International Trade of the British government. Both indicated their full intention to strengthen the exchange of knowledge between countries to encourage investment in the green hydrogen sector to meet joint goals of the countries, such as the decarbonization of the energy sector and the use of national electricity for its sustainable development.
Source: ATOME
