In response to the Argentinian government's call for 1 GW of clean energy capacity to be auctioned, developers have bid for a total of 6,366 MW of power. Out of this, solar power projects represented 2,834 MW capacity.
The total capacity for wind farms received was more than half of the cumulative number at 3,478 MW, with biogas and biomass each getting 53 MW.
The 1 GW tender was floated by the Ministry of Energy and Mining in July 2016 under the country's flagship renewable energy program, RenovAr (see Argentina To Auction 1 GW). This was announced after the country called for bids for 6,520 solar standalone PV systems for its off-grid tender (see Argentina PV Off-Grid Tender).
In a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentinian Energy Minister Juan Jose Aranguren expressed surprise about the huge response According a Bloomberg report he said, "I've never expected 6,000 MW. The first round of our program meets our goal to diversify the energy mix, having new energy costs so that we have enough to power the country's development, and to reduce the impact of these activities on climate change."
Selected developers will sell clean energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The winning bidders will be announced in October 2016. The government expects investments worth $1.5 to $2 billion.
Argentina's power industry majorly functions on fossil fuels; the installed renewable energy capacity is only 682 MW, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The South American nation is targeting to add 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity in the next 10 years, 20% of its total power generation. President Mauricio Macri has also made it mandatory by law for industrial consumers to procure 8% of their power from renewable sources in 2017 and 20% by 2025.