The Ministry of Energy and Mining of Argentina (Mineb) has announced the prices of the third procurement round (Ronda 2) of the RenovAr program for large renewable energy projects.

According to information provided to pv magazine by Juan Bosch of local company SAESA (Energías Renovables – Gas), the lowest price registered for photovoltaic projects was $40.44/MWh, while the average price of all accepted solar projects was $48.92/MWh. The price cap for PV projects had been set at $ 57.04/MWh. The final results of the tender will be communicated by the Mineb next week.

As reported by the Ministry on its website in October, overall 228 offers with a combined capacity of 9.4 GW were submitted. PV was the source with the largest capacity between the submitted bids, with around 5.29 GW of projects. Approximately 450 MW of solar power will be allocated in the auction.

In Renovar’s second bidding round (Ronda 1.5), 30 projects were approved for a total of 1.281 GW and an average price of $54/MWh. This was $7.3/MWh below the average awarded in the first round (Ronda 1), where 10 projects comprised wind technology (765.4 MW) and 20, solar technology (516.2 MW). In Ronda 1, the average price of PV projects awarded was around $ 59.75/MWh, while the average price of Ronda solar projects was $ 54.94/MWh.

Through the first two rounds of the program, the Argentinean government approved a total of 900 MW of solar projects. According to Marcelo Álvarez, the president of the Argentinean Chamber of Renewable Energy (CADER), around 400 MW of the solar capacity allocated in the first two rounds of the program is currently under construction. Most of this capacity is represented by the 300 MW Cauchari solar project, on which work began in early October.