Argentina Could Spur Global New Energy Spike

Argentina May Be the Hottest Renewable Energy Market You Haven’t Heard Of. Can It Spur a Global Boom?

Silvio Marcacci, October 15, 2019 (Forbes)

“…From 2016 through 2019, Argentina’s government awarded contracts for 6.5 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity, helping make wind and solar the country’s cheapest unsubsidized sources of energy. Roughly 5 GW of this capacity is already either in operation or under construction, attracting nearly $7.5 billion in new investment and creating more than 11,000 new jobs…When fully operational, these projects will push renewables to 18% of Argentina’s total power supply – a breakthrough considering they were at just 1.8% before 2016…The key to this growth was overcoming political and financial barriers to create market stability and connect foreign investors with abundant renewable energy resources. Now, that innovative power sector transformation approach is being taken abroad – and it could add 75 GW of new renewables along with $110 billion in new investment to developing nations in the next 20 years…

click to enlarge

…[R]enewable energy’s outlook in Argentina changed with the 2015 election. President Mauricio Macri’s Ministry of Energy and Mining aimed to diversify the country’s energy supply by attracting international private investment to the power sector and de-risking renewable energy projects…[A 20% by 2025 renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was] passed in September 2015…Argentina’s renewable energy sector truly reached investment grade when RenovAr secured $730 million in partial project guarantees from the World Bank over two funding rounds. This protected investors against contract defaults, spurred several other international financial institutions to invest in the market, and made Argentina’s renewable energy market ‘the most interesting in the world’…[Three additional auctions between 2016 and 2019 awarded] more than 4.8 GW of new renewable energy contracts across 190 projects…[They] are expected to attract $7.5 billion in financing…” click here for more

click to enlarge

Tweet