Green projects win 1.1 GW in Argentina, losing bidders get 2nd chance

Seventeen projects representing 1,109 MW of capacity won contracts in the first tender round of Argentina's renewable energy programme, RenovAR, and bidding for an additional 600 MW is planned for November.

The successful bids, announced by the country's energy ministry on Friday, include 12 wind projects or 708 MW of capacity, four solar projects for a combined 400 MW and one biogas project of 1.2 MW.

The ministry also said that it is launching an additional round under the programme where solar and wind projects that failed to secure contracts will be able to present better offers by November 11. The size of that round is 600 MW, split between 400 MW of wind and 200 MW of solar.

The lowest prices achieved in the auction, which attracted a total of 6.3 GW of bids for 1 GW of capacity sought, were USD 49.1 (EUR 44) per MWh for wind and USD 59 per MWh for solar, while the average prices of awarded contracts for the two technologies were USD 59.4 per MWh and USD 59.7 per MWh, respectively.

The winners include the country's Jujuy province, which through Jujuy's State Energy and Mining Society (JEMSE), has secured three solar projects of 100 MW each, and Fieldare/Isolux won with a 100-MW project in Salta. China's Envision has several winning wind projects. The full list is in the table.

Argentina targets an 8% renewable power share by end-2017 and 20% by end-2025.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.896)

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