Argentina is currently facing difficulties importing certain products needed for renewable energy projects, for example, because they are not covered by non-automatic import licenses, which are not being authorized by the Secretariat of Industry, Knowledge Economy, and Trade Management. One of the most notable examples is the importation of solar panels, both for the distributed generation segment and for utility-scale applications. "Despite being a capital good, they are not included in a publication by the Ministry of Productive Development and Customs regarding tariff classifications with expedited processing and those requiring approval for import, based on each company's allocated annual import capacity," explained Marcelo Álvarez , president of the Photovoltaic Solar Energy Committee of the Argentine Chamber of Renewable Energies (CADER). And it must be considered that if a PV panel importer has a very small registry and limited capacity to bring products from abroad, the authorization will be directly proportional, since it depends on the previous year's record and the permitted amount of dollars allocated for this purpose. "Part of the problem is the ability (or lack thereof) to bring the modules from abroad on time and in the correct manner, which is precisely the most expensive part of the imported component."
Another issue is that import costs skyrocketed before the war between Ukraine and Russia .
“And the cost of shipping small quantities from a container is extremely high, which affects the price in the domestic market,” he added. Given the limitation that the panels are not currently considered capital goods, CADER itself sent a letter to the Ministry of Productive Development regarding the corresponding tariff classifications, with the aim of resolving these obstacles faced by companies in the country. And although they have not yet received a formal response from the government, the Chamber is optimistic that the issue will be resolved and that these types of systems will be incorporated in a rectification that will solve this problem in the short term. “We understand that the Ministry is reviewing everything that has been left out.”
"And it's likely that the panels will be included in the upcoming amendment as an additional tariff classification exempt from processing," Álvarez acknowledged in an interview with Energía Estratégica . "That would solve a good part of the problem and eliminate the restriction, simply through a resolution from the Ministry of Productive Development clarifying that the module no longer falls under the current category," the specialist explained. "In this way, declaring them as capital goods would also prevent a negative impact on local prices for solar systems," he continued.
This fact could give a greater boost to the photovoltaic industry and advance the transformation of Argentina's energy matrix.