The National Electricity Administration (ANDE) has announced that at 2:38pm today, the country experienced its highest ever electricity demand, coming in at 4,925 MegaWatts (MW).
This is the third time the record has been broken so far this year, beating the previous record set on 12th February at 2:14pm, which saw consumption reach 4,905 MW.
Officials at ANDE noted that the surge in demand coincided with unseasonably hot weather across the country, with the ‘El Nino’ weather phenomenon pushing Autumn temperatures up to slightly more than 40 degrees Celsius in the capital Asuncion, with higher temperatures recorded elsewhere in the country.
The vast majority of the power demand was met by the Itaipú hydroelectric dam, with other hydroelectric power plants across the country chipping in. Whilst the distribution network for power across the country still has room for improvements, with power outages a regular feature of life in some areas, Paraguay is in a select group of just two countries worldwide which generate more than 99.9% of their power in a fully sustainable, renewable, zero-carbon way – the other being Albania in Europe.
Considered one of the wonders of the modern world, the Itaipú Dam has a peak generating capacity of 14,000 MW. It straddles the Parana river between Paraguay and Brazil, and can be easily reached from Ciudad del Este. Alongside Iguazu Falls, it is one of the most visited attractions in Eastern Paraguay.
