ENVIRONMENT-ARGENTINA: Winds of Hope for Alternative Energy

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 27 2001 (IPS) - The winds seem to be blowing in favour of alternative energy in Argentina, a country with great potential for developing “aeolian” technology, which is clean and increasingly competitive with fossil fuel energy sources.

The Enarsa Group, comprised of the Spanish firms Endesa and Elecnor, announced that in June they will begin the first phase of a 2.25-billion-dollar, 10-year plan for building “wind parks” in the southern region of Patagonia, where wind forces are double the European average.

The wind parks are to be set up in the provinces of Chubut, Neuquén and Río Negro, and will have established an output of 3,000 megawatt hours by 2010.

The current energy production capacity of Argentina is 15,000 megawatt hours from conventional sources.

The construction of these stations will provide employment for 3,000 people, and permanent jobs for 350.

Spain, Germany and the United States area currently in the lead for use of wind technology. In Spain, wind-generated energy makes up more than 12 percent of the country’s total electrical production.

Argentina, with its naturally favourable conditions – though lacking government aid -, is third in Latin America in producing this renewable energy, behind Costa Rica and Brazil, two countries with fewer initial advantages but greater public sector support.

“Argentina’s potential as far as aeolian energy surpasses the total consumption of this country of 37 million people,” affirms Juan Carlos Villalonga, head of the energy campaign at the local office of Greenpeace, the international environmental watchdog.

Villalonga has worked since the mid-1990s to convince the Argentine business community and government that wind technology does not pose an investment risk because this natural resource is top quality and production costs are on the decline.

Wind energy production, which grew more than 20 percent a year on average, was one of the top three rapid-growth economic activities of the 1990s, pointed out the Greenpeace representative. The others were the cellular phone and Internet industries.

Nevertheless, Villalonga expressed caution with respect to wind endeavours in Patagonia in the short term because the economic problems currently affecting the country are not doing much to calm the nerves of foreign investors.

If the Enarsa Group maintains its start-up date in June, the first phase should be completed next year, with an investment of 250 million dollars and an output capacity of 300 megawatt hours.

A plan of action that Greenpeace presented three years ago seems to be tailor-made for the Spanish investment plan.

The environmental organisation first lobbied for a national law that would stimulate investment in wind energy as a source of economic benefits for the country.

Then it pushed for provincial legislation in line with federal regulations, and, lastly, the group called for connecting the national electrical system with the circuit of wind energy production that is already operating in the Patagonian provinces.

A national law on wind energy was passed in 1998 and enacted in February of this year.

The electricity network of the south is isolated and, as such, boosting supply would not be profitable for investors until it is incorporated into the national distribution network, which is fed by conventional sources, like natural gas-generated or hydroelectric plants, Villalonga pointed out.

The wind energy produced today is destined only for Patagonian cities, meeting 12 to 50 percent of the demand, depending on the area served.

Greenpeace applauded the official decision to enact the wind law, which was followed in March by a key announcement: Argentine President Fernando de la Rúa promised the southern provinces that the hoped-for connection with the national system will soon be completed.

The Greenpeace expert explained that renewable energies are often thought to be too expensive for mass consumption, but that belief is quickly losing credence.

“The costs of solar energy are still high, but those of wind energy are close to the costs of natural gas-produced electricity. The business community now has the word,” concluded Villalonga.