Argentina’s solar market turns to industry and mining

In Mendoza, a solar project covering 620 hectares is doing more than feeding electricity into Argentina’s grid. YPF Luz commissioned the 305 MW El Quemado plant this year, with a reported investment of between $211 million and $220 million, and says it will support a sustainable energy hub for industrial development.

That project marks a change in how solar is being built. RenovAR, the public procurement program launched in 2016, ran four tenders before it was shuttered in 2025. Private-sector contracts are now taking a larger role. Argentina’s installed solar capacity stood at 2.5 GW in February, according to wholesale electricity market administrator CAMMESA; total renewable capacity reached 7.9 GW, excluding hydroelectric stations larger than 50 MW. The renewable energy futures market, known as MATER, was one of the markets developed during the RenovAR era.

Industry is driving both large and smaller projects. Genneia’s 129 MW San Juan Sur solar plant reached full commercial operation in June, alongside its 180 MW San Rafael facility. In Catamarca, textile company Algodonera del Valle received authorization for its 12 MW Del Valle plant to join the wholesale market as a generating agent. The model is no longer limited to selling renewable electricity to the grid: companies are also seeking more predictable costs and power tied directly to their operations.

The next constraint is physical. Developers submitted transmission-access applications in May for four solar plants totaling 58.9 MW, all planning connections at 33 kV. Marcelo Álvarez, president of the Argentine Chamber of Renewable Energy, said distribution networks and large wholesale-market users will need to carry more of the transition while new transmission projects are developed. Mining projects may justify dedicated infrastructure, but other plants are likely to depend on distribution networks in the interim.

So what does this change in practice? For mines, factories and other large users, solar can become part of the power supply built around their own activity, rather than only an electricity source competing for a distant high-voltage connection. Lithium and copper projects are being planned around renewable systems, according to Álvarez. For smaller industrial users, Martín Ponsá says the economics of self-consumption have improved: estimated payback has moved from seven, eight or 10 years to around three to four years, helped by low equipment prices and competition among installers. The grid bottleneck remains, but demand is opening several routes for solar to keep expanding.