Argentina fires starting gun on 1GW renewable energy tender

The draft tender rules will be published by the government's renewable energy department over the next 24 hours at the start of a 20-day public consultation process.

Local press said bids should be presented in the fourth quarter of this year.

The 20-year, US dollar-denominated PPAs are part of the government's renewables policies – revised by the Argentine congress in 2015 – which set a target of an 8% share by 2018 and a 20% target by 2025, and also created a state renewable energy trust-fund called FODER to finance and guarantee investments.

The government also published regulations for investors to obtain tax benefits. The level of tax discounts will take into account the proportion of local content used.

“We're calling on all the companies to invest so that we can raise renewable power supply from 2% to 20% by 2025,” said President Mauricio Macri at the launch of the renewables programme called RenovAr.

“This is the start of something wonderful in which we have to be together, trust our own capabilities and tell the truth to build up confidence.”