The government of Argentina has decided to support the 200 MW extension of the 300 MW Cauchari solar PV project in the province of Jujuy. The project is developed by Jujuy Energía Minería Sociedad del Estado (JEMSE) and will be built by a consortium of Chinese companies Shanghai Electric and Power China, which are responsible for the first phase of the project as well.
The first 150 MW of the plant will be commissioned in May 2019, another 150 MW on August 2019 and the 200 MW extension is expected to be operational by the end of 2020. JEMSE is also evaluating the possibility of expanding the plant by another 96 MW, bringing it close to 600 MW.
The Cauchari solar project was awarded in 2016 under the framework of Argentina's first renewable tender. The project has received US$390m in financing from the Eximbank of China and was initially divided into three 100 MW units Cauchari-1, Cauchari-2 and Cauchari-3, all to be commissioned by end-2019.