Paraguay Sets 2027 Expiration Date for Crypto Mining Power Contracts

Paraguay's state electricity utility ANDE will terminate special power contracts for intensive users, including Bitcoin miners, on December 31, 2027, with no extensions planned under current regulations. The decision redirects the country's surplus hydropower toward AI data centers, which are being offered 15-year agreements priced around $49/MWh.

The shift marks a structural break for one of the world's most attractive mining jurisdictions. The contracts now facing expiration cover operators drawing a collective 943.8 MW from Paraguay's surplus hydroelectric output, fed by the Itaipú and Yacyretá dams. Eastern Paraguay built its mining industry on that cheap, abundant power. The government is now redeploying the same advantage toward a different class of customer.

Who gets the power instead?

The clearest beneficiary is Kuntur, a company linked to Araico and to the planned $12 billion Iguazú AI City project. Kuntur secured a 15-year contract for up to 286 MW to power an AI data campus. The supply ramps gradually, starting at just 6 MW in December 2026 before climbing toward the 286 MW ceiling.

The economics explain the pivot. Miners pay roughly $30/MWh on contracts set to lapse — about double earlier tariff levels — while AI operators are being offered around $49/MWh on 15-year terms. Officials, according to the available findings, favor projects that create more jobs and commit to longer horizons. A data campus attached to a $12 billion development promises a larger economic footprint and a longer relationship than rolling mining contracts.

ANDE's revenue does not disappear in the process. The utility is expected to keep generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually from intensive users despite the transition.

What does this change for HIVE Digital?

No public miner carries more exposure than HIVE Digital Technologies. Its Paraguayan sites house roughly 77 percent of its operating mining capacity, per CoinDesk, with research placing the share in a 77–80 percent range. The company runs two facilities in the country: a roughly 200 MW site at Yguazú and a roughly 100 MW site at Valenzuela.

Those locations drove much of HIVE's recent hashrate growth. That growth now sits on contracts with a fixed end date and no renewal path under current rules. For shareholders, the operative question is what happens to three-quarters of the company's operating capacity after December 31, 2027.

HIVE is not alone in feeling the squeeze. The number of legal mining operators in Paraguay has already fallen from 71 to 41, following strict enforcement against illegal grid connections. Costs have climbed alongside the enforcement push: crypto mining tariffs have roughly doubled to around $30/MWh, and operators now face upfront deposit requirements on top of that.

A timing gap worth watching

The transition leaves an arithmetic wrinkle. Kuntur's AI campus begins at 6 MW in December 2026 and ramps toward a maximum of 286 MW, while the miners' 943.8 MW of contracted load faces the 2027 cutoff. Even at full ramp, the AI deal covers less than a third of the load being released.

That gap raises an open question about how much surplus power sits idle, or gets reallocated, during the transition window. The answer will shape ANDE's revenue and Paraguay's appeal to whichever intensive-user industry bids next.

The signals to track from here are concrete: any HIVE disclosures on contingency plans for its Paraguayan footprint, any regulatory changes that reopen extension talks, and further long-term AI contracts from ANDE before the December 2027 deadline arrives.