Warming US-Argentina ties reflected in wind farm

OREANDA-NEWS. March 25, 2016. US president Barack Obama is wrapping up a two-day visit to Argentina today that marked a dramatic shift in the shale-rich country's relationship with Washington after more than a decade of tensions.

The visit, which featured an emphasis on renewable energy, was short on specifics but filled with promises to increase trade and commercial cooperation at a time when Argentina is realigning its foreign alliances as it seeks to re-enter international capital markets.

A group of US firms plans to invest more than \\$2.3bn in Argentina over the next 12-18 months, said Juan Vaquer, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina.

One of those firms is Dow Chemical, which earlier this week sealed a \\$123mn preliminary agreement with Invap, a company owned by the Rio Negro province, to build a 50MW wind farm.

Dow already has a shale gas project with Argentina?s state-controlled YPF.

"Argentina has set impressive targets for producing clean energy and they plan ambitious targets for reducing carbon emissions," Obama said. "I pledged to president Macri I would provide any technical assistance that he thought would be useful in developing the incredible resources and clean energy strategies he is interested in pursuing."

President Mauricio Macri, who took office on 10 December, has moved to try to end a long legal battle between holdout bondholders and Argentina that was born out of the country's record-breaking 2001 default that has kept the country locked out of international markets.

Since taking office, Macri has distanced Argentina from close alliances that Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner forged with Russia, China and Venezuela.

The preliminary agreement between Dow and Invap outlines a two-phase development for the wind farm located in Rio Negro province. The first would involve a \\$50mn investment to install five wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 15MW. The second phase would increase the number of turbines to 20.

Argentina wants alternative renewables to make up 20pc of its total energy matrix by 2025. It is far from that goal. In February, thermal power output covered 66.5pc of consumption, hydro accounted for 26.64pc, nuclear 5.45pc, wind and solar power made up 0.38pc, and imports 1.01pc.