The Argentinian government has endorsed the construction of the Kirchner-Cepernic hydropower complex (Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina). The project will consist of two dams, namely the Nestor Kirchner and the Jorge Cepernic facilities, which will have a combined installed capacity of 1,300 MW and are expected to inject 5,171 GWh/y into the Sistema Argentino de Interconexión (SADI) grid.
Investments of about US$4.7bn are required for the construction and the China Development Bank has pledged to finance the project. The facilities will be built by China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd, which holds a majority share in the project and Argentina’s Electroingeniera SA.
The project will be divided in two parts, namely the 950 MW Nestor Kirchner facility and the 360 MW Jorge Cepernic plant, which will be located 80 km from each other. Out of the 5,171 GWh/year expected power generation figures, 3,268 GWh/year will come from the Nestor Kirchner facility and 1,903 GWh/year from the Jorge Cepernic dam.