EUA faz mega acordos com energia de Itaipu para AI e urânio – mas no Paraguai

Yesterday, Christopher Landau, the U.S. Vice Secretary of State, visited Itaipu and announced major infrastructure projects for artificial intelligence and uranium exploration in Paraguay. Landau toured the hydroelectric plant, which is currently wasting water due to El Niño rains, and was accompanied by President Santiago Peña of Paraguay.

The U.S. government highlighted a strategic partnership between American infrastructure firms Crusoe and Araico for a project using Itaipu's electricity. The two companies plan to start operation in mid-2027, offering cloud services to U.S. and Latin American consumers. Meanwhile, Uranium Energy Corp invested $12 million in developing uranium exploration concessions in Paraguay.

The U.S. Department of State aimed to open opportunities for U.S. companies in tech, critical minerals, river infrastructure, and logistics during the visit. Araico, involved in the AI infrastructure project, plans to build a data center campus, Iguazi AI City, with a goal of reaching 1.3 GW total capacity in the long term. According to a Scala Data Centers CEO, Paraguay has potential to reach 1 GW in data centers before Brazil if the country doesn't approve state-level tax incentives for the industry after recent approval of Redata in Congress.

The Paraguayan government sees the country as an attractive option for data center development due to its abundant energy, half of Itaipu's generation and half of Yaciretá's generation in Argentina, and no domestic consumption. The binational project allocates 50% of the generated energy to each side, with Paraguay receiving 59% of financial returns from 2025 due to a share in production remuneration, while 89% of costs remain with Brazil, according to Acende Brasil data.

Brazil paid $89.8 billion, while Paraguay earned $5.9 billion since Itaipu's operations began. Brazil's financial burden has increased due to the treaty's design, which allowed the smaller neighboring country to shoulder its commitments. Sales attributed this disparity to poor negotiations benefiting Paraguay in recent years, affecting the final numbers at the expense of Brazilian energy consumers.