Oil company commissions 100 MW solar plant in Argentina

From pv magazine LatAm

Argentinean oil and gas supplier YPF Luz has inaugurated a 100 MW solar power plant near the town of Bella Vista, in the northern Argentinean province of San Juan, northern Argentina. The Zonda PV facility is the first phase of a 300 MW solar project that will be finalized at an unspecified later stage.

YPF Luz has invested around $90 million in the 100 MW plant. Part of this sum – $63.9 million – was raised by issuing a green bond.  Construction began in February 2022. The Zonda plant has a capacity factor of 36%, with 170,880 bifacial panels installed across 200 hectares.

The solar plant has already secured approval from Cammesa, the company that manages the country’s wholesale electricity market. It said it can begin operating the first 30 MW and “the last stages of commissioning are being completed so that it will soon begin to operate at 100%.”

The 300 MW project was selected by the national government in the first round of the RenovAr program. It was financed with funds from the Export-Import Bank of China, and a $210 million bond issued by the province of Jujuy, where it is located. Jemse owns an 80% stake in the project, with the remaining 20% split between Power China, Shanghai Electric, and Talesun.