CAPEX intensifies its commitment to clean energy and outlines a roadmap with more renewables in Argentina.
The company, with more experience in the thermal energy sector, has 83.9 MW of renewable energy capacity between operational and under-construction parks, but aims to match that capacity in its project portfolio. "CAPEX has a prepared portfolio of renewable projects that have not yet materialized, so we have 200 MW under development, resulting from the potential expansion of the La Salvación and Agua del Cajón solar parks (installed and under construction, respectively) by up to 100 MW each," highlighted Diego López Cuneo , CAPEX's commercial manager. It also has 100 MW of wind power under development in the Bahía Blanca area and another 100 MW in La Rioja, which participated in the RenMDI tender.
In addition, it is taking the first steps to acquire land in San Juan to develop projects. "We will have an energy mix that will shift more towards renewables than thermal energy."
But the expansion of solar parks depends on the available transmission capacity on the grid,” added Maximiliano Amigo , CAPEX’s Electric Power Commercial Leader. A recent milestone is the partnership with Arcos Dorados, the largest McDonald’s franchisee in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In February, Arcos Dorados' largest Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in the country came into effect, through which CAPEX will supply 15,000 MWh of solar energy annually from the La Salvación park for a period of seven years. This agreement allows 78 of the franchise's branches in Argentina to be fully supplied with renewable energy, and through which McDonald's has achieved 50% of its energy consumption from renewables in Latin America . Furthermore, CAPEX obtained priority dispatch for its Agua del Cajón photovoltaic park (30 MW) in the recent Term Market (MATER) call, through the Reference "A" allocation mechanism, meaning with the possibility of curtailment of up to 8% of the characteristic annual energy under the planned operating conditions. "This project will be located in the province of Neuquén, in the Plottier area, because we have a 670 MW combined cycle thermal power plant in the same location; "Added to this is the fact that the area has a plant factor practically identical to San Luis," López Cuneo reported. The future of the electrical grid, a key factor. Despite the dynamism of its portfolio, the expansion of renewable projects is contingent upon the transmission capacity of the electrical grid.
This bottleneck, which has persisted for several years, is expected to be resolved soon with a potential government resolution addressing the expansion of the transmission system between the public and private sectors. CAPEX has expressed its willingness to evaluate its participation in transmission projects, provided that adequate incentives are offered, priority access to the infrastructure is guaranteed, and the corresponding associated costs are taken into account. However, the company acknowledged that a 100 MW project requiring a transmission line could significantly increase its cost, and that in some cases, private expansion will depend on multiple generators pooling their resources to ensure its viability.