US chemical firm Dow to invest in Argentinian wind

ARGENTINA: US firm Dow Chemical Company will invest $123 million to build a new wind project in southern Argentina.

by Tom Azzopardi 29 March 2016

US president Barack Obama met with newly-elected Argentine president Mauricio Macri (right)

The project located in Rio Negro will be built in partnership with the local provincial government.

Dow Argentina signed a memorandum of understanding with INVAP, a research firm owned by the Rio Negro provincial government, to install up to 25 turbines at Cerro Policia, 50 kilometres south of Villa El Chocon, where INVAP has been undertaking wind studies during the past 30 years.

In the first stage, Dow will invest around $50 million to install five turbines – with a total capacity of 15MW - transformers and connection equipment.

A second 50MW stage will cost a further $73 million.

The agreement coincided with US President Barack Obama's first visit to Argentina to meet with newly-elected counterpart Mauricio Macri during which the development of renewable energy was a key issue on the agenda.

Argentina's wind resource is viewed as one of the largest on the planet with many projects promising capacity factors of more than 45%. Developers have filed plans to install more than 5GW of wind capacity.