Argentina contracted 128MW of wind capacity and 97MW of solar projects, to start operations within two years, at the third tender round of its RenovAr renewable-energy programme.

Wind power was contracted for an average price of $58.04/MWh, while solar was contracted for $57.59/MWh, after a $60/MWh cap on prices was set. The power-purchase agreements (PPAs) are denominated in US dollars.

German developer Elawan (formerly Gestamp) won nine of the ten winning wind projects for a total capacity of 116MW, while local developer Adelia Maria won a contract for its 12.6MW Adelia Maria wind farm.

Argentina also contracted 33.6MW of biomass, biogas, waste to energy and small-hydro, with prices ranging from $103/MWh for small-hydro to $158/MWh for biogas projects.

The total investment in all contracted projects is said to be $368m.

The government had intended to sign contracts for 400MW in the so-called MiniRen tender, but only 351MW of bids were received, and only 259MW were contracted.

MiniRen was intended to keep up momentum in the RenovAr renewable energy programme after it hit a wall — the two tender rounds in 2016 and 2017 meant that almost all of Argentina’s power transmission capacity was utilised. The government, therefore, decided to auction only small projects to avoid extra strain on the country's grid.

Argentina hopes to restart auctioning of large-scale projects by the end of the year, which may include transmission line build-outs in the contracts.

The government also invited the sponsors of 12 projects that had bid over the $60/MWh cap price to reduce their bids and sign the 20-year PPAs.