Atome is eyeing a 300MW solar and battery storage project in Paraguay that could underpin a new industrial park around its $665m Villeta green fertiliser development, with progress conditional on resolving the latter’s disputed power arrangements.
The UK-listed developer said its power and battery storage division had reached an agreement with a “multilateral development bank’s dollar fund” to provide financial and technical support for a feasibility study into the 300MW solar project near Villeta.
Atome said it was “encouraged by the prospect” of developing a wider industrial park with solar and battery at its core, “capitalising on all the associated new industry and trades” generated by the green hydrogen-based fertiliser plant.
Atome did not detail the proposed battery capacity or how electricity from the 300MW solar development would be used.
However, the company said it would only proceed with the study if the fertiliser plant moved ahead with a 145MW power purchase agreement (PPA), currently under renegotiation following the government’s decision to scrap preferential power terms.
The condition ties Atome’s wider solar, battery storage, and industrial park ambitions to the outcome of negotiations over electricity prices for Villeta, which the company expects to be clarified in the coming weeks.
Paraguay is reviewing tariffs for large industrial users after President Santiago Peña’s government revoked two decrees setting out preferential power prices and contract terms for a new PPA negotiated between Atome and state utility Ande.
The reversal came after Villeta had reached final investment decision, creating uncertainty over a roughly $30/MWh tariff for 15 years that had become a cornerstone of the project’s financing.
Earlier this month, Atome said the government had requested clarity on new tariff levels by the first part of September.
The proposal means the outcome of those talks could now influence investment beyond the $665m fertiliser plant, with Atome tying its wider solar, battery storage and industrial park ambitions to Villeta moving ahead.
Due online in late 2029, the project has secured $420m of debt funding and $244m in equity from institutions including the United Nations, European Investment Bank, International Finance Corporation, and Hy24.
It is set to supply the fertilisers to Yara under a 10-year offtake deal.
