Argentina

Batteries, and the raw materials that make them, are a frequent target of public criticism. The high water consumption required for lithium extraction is speeding up desertification around the salt lakes of Latin America’s “lithium triangle”, for example. The mining debate highlights general problems with the extraction of raw materials including copper, crude oil and lithium but international companies can still influence extraction methods – and there are plenty of different approaches.

A new process is described as a tool to assess the value of deferring, relocating or abandoning PV projects under development in uncertain market conditions. Researchers say the model may help investors reconsider projects which could be prematurely rejected based on traditional analytical approaches.

To have any hope of restricting global heating to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the renewables success story which saw 108 GW of solar deployed last year needs to be cranked up to the next level – and fast.

Of the 38 new renewable energy projects that have been awarded, 13 are PV plants, representing 96.75 MW of capacity. The average price for solar was $57.58/MWh, and the minimum was $54.22/MWh.

Overall, 31 renewable energy projects have pre-qualified for the final phase of the auction. The outcome of the procurement exercise will be announced on July 22. Around 300 MW of capacity will be allocated.

Some 56 bids were submitted for the fourth round of the RenovAr program for large scale renewables. Projects will be selected on July 22. With this procurement the Argentinian government wants to allocate a total of 350 MW of solar and wind generation capacity, with a 10 MW size limit per project.

The fifth round (Ronda 4) of the RenovAr program for large-scale solar and renewables will be held by the end of the year, according to the Argentinean Minister of Renewable Energy, Sebastián Kind. The procurement exercise will also include grid infrastructure projects.

Having put key PV projects into commercial operation, the company is capitalizing on their production. Scatec also has twice its current installed capacity under construction and nearly fourfold that amount – more than 4 GW – in the pipeline as 2018 expectations were surpassed.

The funds will be used by the Argentinian government for solar and other renewable energy projects selected in the third round of the program. The guarantee package was approved by the World Bank in March.

At the weekend’s G20 summit, a framework agreement for the project expansion was signed by project initiator Jemse SE and Chinese partners Power China and Shanghai Electric. The plant expansion will include the deployment of storage capacity. The project is one of two PV plants, totaling 400 MW, selected in round one of the RenovAr program for large-scale solar and renewable energies.