Argentine power group Genneia has started operating the 70MW Puerto Madryn 1 wind farm in the southern province of Chubut – marking completion of the first wind project from the failed Genren programme to be completed since it was revived under the country's new renewables push.

According to Argentina's Ministry of Energy, this brings to 418MW the total of new renewable energy projects – including wind, solar PV and biomass – to start delivering power in the regulated market since the start of the current RenovAr programme in 2016.

An estimated 600MW of wind capacity – including non-regulated market projects – has now come online, up from around 270MW when Argentina’s 20% renewables supply target was implemented by the 2015 law that paved the way for the country’s current renewable energy programme.

The programme included renegotiation of stalled projects under the previous programme, known as Genren. Launched in 2010, Genren contracted over 700MW of wind, but only a fraction was built despite PPAs that offered over $100/MWh, as a lack of clear regulations and incentives — plus ongoing economic difficulties resulting from Argentina's devastating $93bn debt default in 2001 — led most investors to abandon their projects.

In 2016, the government allowed project sponsors to renegotiate contracts around the average of the new programme – less than $60/MWh – and some 500MW was signed, including Puerto Madryn.

Genneia said it invested $122m in the project that was built with Vestas V126, 3.6MW machines.

Capacity factors of 49% in the Patagonian plains should underpin expansion of Genneia’s position as one of Argentina’s leading wind power producers. Before 100MW-scale wind projects started being inaugurated, Genneia used to be the biggest wind power producer in Argentina with the 77MW Rawson wind farm, in the same region as Puerto Madryn I.

The company, however, plans to continue expanding. In the coming weeks it expects to start commercial operations of the 28.5MW Chubut Norte and the 50MW Villalonga wind farms, both contracted in the first regulated market tender of 2016. Additionally, Genneia expects to start operations at the 82MW Ullum solar PV plant in northwestern Argentina.

By 2021, it expects to conclude construction of another six wind farms totalling 416MW and a 19MW biomass project.

Argentina has contracted a total of 2.5GW of wind and 1.7GW of solar PV via regulated market tenders. Of that, 71 wind, solar, small hydro and biomass projects are under construction adding up to 2.9GW.

Wind

Genren survivor Puerto Madryn 1 spinning in Argentina