PERMER, the Project for Renewable Energy in Rural Markets (PERMER), started in 1999 as an off-grid rural electrification plan through the use of sustainable sources, mainly solar PV.

Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world (in terms of territory) and has the third largest economy in Latin America (in terms of GDP), making it a regional economic engine with a wide variety and abundance of natural resources.

The mines and energy ministry has announced that it will hold Round 3 of the RenovAr auctions in September, as both the government and private sector players hope lessons can be learned from the first two rounds and incorporated into the next auction.

Already present in half a dozen Latin American countries, Italian solar developer Thesan sees Argentina as a new frontier as the country becomes more attractive thanks to the RenovAr program and two successful electric power tenders, although challenges remain.

With the country’s RenovAr program well underway, Argentina plans to introduce distributed generation policy in 2018, providing a further boost to solar development.

With contracts signed in January for the first solar projects awarded in Argentina’s renewables tender, the north-western province of Salta is about to make its mark on the country’s solar map. Salta will be one of the focus regions during the El Futuro Solar Argentina conference (Buenos Aires, 28-30 March) and the province’s Electricity General Director, Jorge H. Giubergia, will take the stage to present his Energy Secretariat’s vision.

Argentina launched its renewable energy drive with the RenovAr program in May, with the first round of the process aimed at adding 1 GW of capacity to the country’s grid now complete, garnering an enthusiastic response among developers, but challenges lie ahead.

With no further doubts, the holdout settlement is a milestone for Argentina’s endeavors to rise again after the economic and political crisis in the early 2000s. Yet, it is only the first item on the agenda of the Macri administration, which has more ambitious plans set up for the country. Renewable energy is the next major target.

A record-breaking El Niño weather phenomenon could force Latin American countries to diversify away from hydro and towards PV.

Chile’s main PV association wants the government to foster distributed generation like it has done for grid-scale projects.

It’s been over a decade since the last visit of the US president to Buenos Aires, capital of the second largest Latin American country with a world famous heritage of football and tango. President Obama visited the country on March 16, 2016, shortly after President Macri, inaugurated in December 2015, reached a deal with the decade-long holdout creditors, a legacy of the country’s grave financial crisis in the early 2000s.