The RenovAr second power capacity tender is largely oversubscribed (Argentina)

The Argentinian government reported that the second auction round under the framework of the RenovAr renewable energies programme has attracted 9,402 MW of bids spread across 228 offers, which is eight times more than the proposed capacity. The auction round capacity has been set at 1,200 MW and the Ministry mulls over either extending the proposed capacity or completing the round. This is what happened during the country's last round in September 2016, when the proposed bids reached 6,300 MW for a proposed capacity of 1,000 MW. Out of the 9,402 MW, 56% are concerning solar PV with 5,291 MW across 99 offers while wind power accounts for 40% with 3,817 MW.



This round targets 1,200 MW of new generation capacity, of which 550 MW has been set for wind energy, 450 MW for solar energy and 100 MW for biomass. The maximum bidding price of the RenovAr Round 2 is set at US$56.25/MWh for wind energy, US$57.04/MWh for solar and US$110/MWh for biomass.



Argentina launched its Plan RenovAr back in May 2016 in order to boost the development of renewable energy sources to reduce its CO₂ emissions in the wake of the Paris Agreement. In 2006, Argentina had set a target of 8% of renewable energy within ten years, but failed to meet it and postponed its 8% target for late 2017 in October 2015 ahead of the presidential election. In a longer term, Argentina aims to cover 25% of its energy needs with renewables by 2025.