ATOME Energy PLC (AIM:ATOM) said Paraguay’s state-run electricity company ANDE has increased the power available for its Viletta project and also agreed to a pre-power purchase agreement (PPA) study on a larger project at Yguazu.
At Viletta, the existing PPA has been increased to 145Mw from 120Mw, making it the largest power supplier agreement for industrial use in Paraguay, said ATOME.
Power will be supplied to Viletta from the nearby Buey Rodeo substation.
ATOME recently switched focus at Viletta from hydrogen to green fertiliser with a final investment decision on phase 1 of the project expected in the fourth quarter of this year.
In addition, ATOME said Viletta’s tax fee zone status had been confirmed subject to the completion of environmental studies, while it had received “multiple expressions of interest” for offtake deals.
An independent environmental impact report has been conducted by consultant JGP, following Paraguay and international standards.
Tax-free zone status includes 0.5% tax on invoice value of exports outside of Paraguay and 3% tax on domestic sales of production within the country.
At Yguazu, ATOME will prepare studies for 300Mw of power using a newly built landmark 1-gigawatt substation currently going through initial testing.
Olivier Mussat, chief executive, said "major progress” was being made across all levels of the company.
“While we recognise that we have set ourselves a challenging target for FID at the Villeta Project at or around the end of the year, we are progressing with our technical and funding partners in a systematic manner in order to achieve that goal.”