Electricity sector in Argentina
Encyclopedia
The electricity sector in Argentina
constitutes the third largest power market in Latin America. It relies mostly on thermal generation (54% of installed capacity) and hydropower generation (41%), with new renewable energy technologies barely exploited. The country still has a large untapped hydroelectric potential. However, the prevailing natural gas-fired thermal generation is at risk due to the uncertainty about future gas supply.
Faced with rising electricity demand (over 6% annually) and declining reserve margins, the government of Argentina is in the process of commissioning large projects, both in the generation and transmission sectors. To keep up with rising demand, it is estimated that about 1,000 MW of new generation capacity are needed each year. An important number of these projects are being financed by the government through trust funds, while independent private initiative is still limited as it has not fully recovered yet from the effects of the Argentine economic crisis
.
The electricity sector was unbundled in generation
, transmission and distribution
by the reforms carried out in the early 1990s. Generation occurs in a competitive and mostly liberalized market in which 75% of the generation capacity is owned by private utilities. In contrast, the transmission and distribution sectors are highly regulated and much less competitive than generation.
s (54%), hydroelectric
plants (41%), and nuclear plants
(4%, two operational, one incomplete
), with less than 0.1% renewable.CAMMESA Installed nominal capacity in 2006 was 24,046 MW. However, this scenario of gas dominance is likely to undergo changes due to gas exhaustion derived from the existing "bottlenecks" in exploration and production (E+P) and pipeline capacity. Gas output dropped for the first time ever in 2005 (-1.4%) and gas reserves dropped to ten years of consumption by the end of 2004 (down from an average of 30 years in the 1980s). Today, gas reserves are 43% lower than in 2000. This situation is further aggravated by the uncertainty surrounding the gas deals with Bolivia
and the plans to build new regional pipeline connections. Total generation in 2005 was 96.65 TW·h. The breakdown by source in 2003 had been: 59% from conventional thermal sources, 35.4% from hydroelectricity, 7% from nuclear power and 1% from geothermal sources.
The generators are divided into eight regions: Cuyo
(CUY), Comahue
(COM), Northwest
(NOA), Center (CEN), Buenos Aires
/Gran Buenos Aires (GBA-BAS), Littoral
(LIT), Northeast (NEA) and Patagonia
(PAT).
Argentina also imports electricity from Paraguay, produced by the jointly built Yaciretá Dam
. On 18 September 2006 Paraguay agreed to settling its debt of $
11,000 million owed to Argentina for the construction of Yaciretá by paying in electricity, at the rate of 8,000 GW per year for 40 years.
for LAC were 13 interruptions and 14 hours respectively.
, the real-time operation of the electricity system and the administration of the commercial transactions in the electricity market.
The Electric Power Federal Council (CFEE), created in 1960, plays a very important role in the sector as well. It is the administrator of funds that specifically target electricity operations (i.e. National Fund for Electric Power, see Recent developments below) and is also an adviser to the National and the Provincial Governments in issues relating to the power industry, public and private energy services, priorities in the execution of new projects and studies, concessions and authorizations, and electricity tariffs and prices. It is also an adviser for legislative modifications in the power industry.
The Argentine power sector is one of the most competitive and deregulated in South America. However, the fact that the Energy Secretariat has veto power over CAMMESA has the potential to alter the functioning of the competitive market. The functions of generation
, transmission, and distribution
are open to the private sector, but there are restrictions on cross-ownership between these three functions. Argentine law guarantees access to the grid in order to create a competitive environment and to allow generators to serve customers anywhere in the country.
in a competitive, mostly liberalized electricity market
, with 75% of total installed capacity in private hands. The share in public hands corresponds to nuclear generation and to the two bi-national hydropower plants: Yacyretá
(Argentina-Paraguay) and Salto Grande
(Argentina-Uruguay). The generation sector is highly fragmented with more than ten large companies, all of them providing less than 15% of the system's total capacity. Power generators sell their electricity in the wholesale market operated by the CAMMESA.
and distribution
sectors are highly regulated and less competitive than generation. In transmission, the Compañía Nacional de Transporte Energético en Alta Tension (Transener) operates the national electricity transmission grid under a long-term agreement with the Argentine government. In the distribution sector, three private companies, Edenor (Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte), Edesur (Electricidad Distribuidora Sur) and Edelap (Empresa de Electricidad de la Plata), dominate a market with 75% control by private firms.
Other important distribution companies at the provincial level are:
The most important legal instruments for the promotion of renewable energy are Law 25,019 from 1998 and Law 26,190 from 2007. The 1998 law, known as the “National Wind and Solar Energy Rules”, declared wind and solar generation of national interest and introduced a mechanism that established an additional payment per generated kWh which, in 1998, meant a 40% premium over market price. It also granted certain tax exemptions for a period of 15 years from the law's promulgation. The 2007 Law complemented the previous one, declaring of national interest the generation of electricity from any renewable source intended to deliver a public service. This law also set an 8% target for renewable energy consumption in the period of 10 years and mandated the creation of a trust fund whose resources will be allocated to pay a premium for electricity produced from renewable sources.
(For a comprehensive list of plants see Hydroelectric power plants in Argentina.)
region has a very large wind potential. The Chubut Wind Power Regional Center (CREE) estimated the theoretical potential for the region at 500 GW of electricity generation. However, this large potential is still largely unexploited. One of the reasons for this underdevelopment is that existing tariffs and incentives do not make wind power development attractive enough yet. However, the main deterrent to wind power development in the region has been the lack of transmission lines that connect the Patagonia region with the National Interconnected System. The completion of the Choele-Choel-Puerto Madryn high voltage line, the first section of Línea Patagónica under the framework of the Plan Federal de Transporte de Energía Eléctrica, eliminated this bottleneck in March 2006.
Nevertheless, wind power has increased significantly in Argentina during the last decade. Total operating wind power capacity in 2005 was 26.6 MW, shared by 13 plants. This is still only about 0.05% of the theoretical potential of wind energy in Argentina. The distribution of number plants and total capacity is:
Of the 13 plants, only three have been commissioned after the year 2000, with the remaining 10 built during the 1990s.
(See Wind power regime map for Argentina.)
introduced a new legal framework for the electricity sector through Law 24,065, which included the following elements: vertical and horizontal unbundling of generation
, transmission and distribution
; opening up of all segments to the private sector; and separation of the regulatory function from policy setting. As a result of the new law, there was substantial private investment which, together with the public power plants that started production in the 1990s, transformed a situation of power shortage and low quality into one of abundance and reliability at lower prices.
ENRE (Electricity National Regulatory Entity) was created in 1992. The Wholesale Electricity Market
(MEM), which covers up to 93% of total demand corresponding to the Argentine Interconnected System (SADI), was also created in 1992. The remaining 7% share of the demand corresponds to Patagonia
, which had its own interconnected market, the Patagonian Wholesale Electricity Market MEMSP), now interconnected with the MEM. CAMMESA (Wholesale Electricity Market Administration Company) was also created that year and assigned the responsibilities of coordinating dispatch operations, setting wholesale prices and administrating economic transactions performed through the Argentine Interconnected System.
The reforms implemented in the 1990s led to high investment, which allowed for a 75% increase in generation capacity, resulting in the decrease of prices in the wholesale market from US$40/MW·h in 1992 to US$23/MW·h in 2001. However, the reforms failed to deliver the necessary increase in transmission capacity. Only one relevant project, the addition of the 1,300 km high voltage line between Comahue
and Buenos Aires
, was built in the 1990s. Distribution networks were also renovated and expanded, which resulted in efficiency and quality improvements.
and frozen in January 2002 through the Public Emergency and Exchange Regime Law. Together with high inflation
(see Economy of Argentina
) and the devaluation of the peso, many companies in the sector had to deal with high levels of debt in foreign currency under a scenario in which their revenues remained stable while their costs increased. This situation has led to severe underinvestment and unavailability to keep up with an increasing demand, factors that contributed to the 2003-2004 energy crisis
. Since 2003, the government has been in the process of introducing modifications that allow for tariff increases. Industrial and commercial consumers' tariffs have already been raised (near 100% in nominal terms and 50% in real terms), but residential tariffs still remain the same.
Néstor Kirchner
created Energía Argentina Sociedad Anónima (Enarsa
), a company managed by the national state of Argentina
for the exploitation and commercialization of petroleum
and natural gas
, but also the generation, transmission and trade of electricity. Through the creation of Enarsa, the state will regain a relevant place in the energy market
that was largely privatized
during the 1990s.
.
In March 2008, the government approved Resolution 24/2008, which created a new natural gas market called “Gas Plus” to encourage private investment in natural gas exploration and production. The Gas Plus regime applies to new discoveries and to “tight gas” fields. The price of the new gas, whose commercialization will be restricted to the domestic market, will not be subject to the conditions established in the “Agreement with Natural Gas Producers 2007-2011” but will be based on costs and a reasonable profit. Experts believe that, if the Gas Plus regime is successful, it could stimulate new investments in electricity generation plants under the Energy Plus regime as it could ensure fuel supply to the new plants.
The PRONUREE includes short- and long-term measures aimed at improving the energy efficiency in the industrial, commercial, transport, residential and service sectors and public buildings. It also supports educational programs on energy efficiency, enhanced regulations to expand cogeneration activities; labeling of equipment and appliances that use energy; improvements to the energy efficiency regulations; and broader utilization of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM
) to support the development of energy efficiency projects. The objective of the program is to reduce electricity consumption by 6%.
One of the first activities defined under PRONUREE is the national program to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2011 in Argentina. The program, financed by the government, aims to replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp
s (CFLs) in all households connected to the electricity grid and selected public buildings. The program, which has initially undergone a pilot phase and expects to replace 5 million incandescent lamps in the next six months, foresees the distribution of 25 million lamps overall. Staff from the distribution companies will visit each household to replace the incandescent lamps and to inform residential users on the advantages of replacing the bulbs and of the efficient use of energy in general.
Recently, in August 2008, after a 7-year tariff freeze, residential electricity tariffs in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (served by the Edenor, Edesur and Edelap utilities) have been increased by 10-30% for households that consume more than 650 kWh every two months. For consumption between 651 kWh and 800 kWh, the increase will be 10%; on the other end, for users over 1,201 kWh, the increase amounts to 30%. The increase impacts around 24% of all Edenor, Edesur and Edelap customers (1,600,000 households). For commercial and industrial users the increase will be 10%.
At the end of August 2008, ENRE also approved increases in transmission
tariffs in the 17%-47% range. The increase granted by ENRE was below the increase determined by the Energy Secretariat for some transmission companies (e.g. Transener, Transba, Distrocuyo and Transnoa. Some of them (i.e. Transener, Transba), will most likely challenge ENRE's decision. An overall tariff revision is still pending and has been put off until February 2009.
for LAC were US$0.115 per kWh for residential consumers and US$0.107 per kWh for industrial customers.
(See History of the electricity sector for more information on the evolution of tariffs).
In addition, CAMMESA, the administrator of the wholesale electricity market, had projected that by 2007 the country's energy demand would require an additional capacity of 1,600 MW. Faced with the need for specific investments but also with a lack of private investment, the Energy Secretariat (SENER) enacted Resolutions 712 and 826 in 2004, which created FONINVEMEM, the Fund for the Investment Needed to Increase the Supply of Electricity in the Wholesale Market. The Fund, which sought to encourage participation from creditors of the wholesale market, invited those creditors, mainly generation companies, to participate with their credit in the creation of the Fund itself.
, Total S.A.
, AES Corporation
, Petrobras
, EDF
and Duke Energy
are the main shareholders in the plants. Both plants, which have been financed through the FONINVEMEM (total investment amounts up to US$1,097 million), are expected to start full operations at the beginning of 2009.
In addition, the Planning Ministry announced in July 2007 the commissioning of five new thermal plants with a total capacity of 1.6 GW and an overall investment of US$3,250 million. These dual-generation turbine (gas or fuel oil) plants, which are expected to start operations in 2008, will be located in Ensenada
(540 MW), Necochea
(270 MW), Campana (540 MW), Santa Fe (125 MW) and Córdoba (125 MW). Finally, Enarsa
has recently launched bidding for eleven small and transportable generation units (15-30 MW each) and for other three larger generation units (50-100 MW) to be installed on barges. These new units, whose base price is still unknown, will add between 400 and 500 MW of new generation capacity.
, whose construction started in 1981, will be completed and will add 750 MW of generation capacity by 2010. In addition, the Embalse nuclear power plant
, with 648 MW of generation capacity, will be refurbished to extend its operational life beyond 2011.
On the hydropower side, the Yacyretá dam
's reservoir was elevated by 7 m to the height of 83 m as contemplated in its original design, which increased its capacity from 1,700 to 3,100 MW. This will lead to a 60% increase in its electricity output (from 11,450 GW·h to 18,500 GW·h). The reservoir rise was complete in February 2011 despite a serious controversy regarding the resettlement of people. Additionally, in 2006, bidding for the expansion of Yacyretá with the construction of a new 3-turbine plant in the Añá Cuá arm of the Paraná River
was announced by the Government. This expansion, to be finalized in 2010, would add 300 MW of new generation capacity.
In addition, the Federal Plan for Transport of Electric Energy II, defined in 2003 and updated in 2006, has the objective of addressing the constraints faced by the regional transmission networks in the period up to 2010. This complementary plan has prioritized the necessary works according to their ability to address short-term demand issues. 109 of the 240 works identified in 2003 were considered of high priority and have already been completed or are under execution. Initially, investment for high priority works was estimated at US$376 million, while estimated investment for the rest of the works totaled US$882.2 million. However, this budget is under revision due to the increasing costs of materials such as steel and aluminum and of labor.
Currently, private and state-owned companies carry out generation in a completive, mostly liberalized electricity market, with 75% of total installed capacity in private hands. The publicly-owned share corresponds to nuclear generation and to the two bi-national hydropower plants: Yacyretá (Argentina-Paraguay) and Salto Grande (Argentina-Uruguay). On the other hand, the transmission and distribution sectors are highly regulated and less competitive than generation. In transmission, the Compañía Nacional de Transporte Energético en Alta Tension (Transener) operates the national electricity transmission grid, while in the distribution sector, three private companies, Edenor (Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte), Edesur (Electricidad Distribuidora Sur) and Edelap (Empresa de Electricidad de la Plata), dominate a market with 75% control by private firms.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
constitutes the third largest power market in Latin America. It relies mostly on thermal generation (54% of installed capacity) and hydropower generation (41%), with new renewable energy technologies barely exploited. The country still has a large untapped hydroelectric potential. However, the prevailing natural gas-fired thermal generation is at risk due to the uncertainty about future gas supply.
Faced with rising electricity demand (over 6% annually) and declining reserve margins, the government of Argentina is in the process of commissioning large projects, both in the generation and transmission sectors. To keep up with rising demand, it is estimated that about 1,000 MW of new generation capacity are needed each year. An important number of these projects are being financed by the government through trust funds, while independent private initiative is still limited as it has not fully recovered yet from the effects of the Argentine economic crisis
Argentine economic crisis (1999-2002)
The Argentine economic crisis was a financial situation, tied to poilitical unrest, that affected Argentina's economy during the late 1990s and early 2000s...
.
The electricity sector was unbundled in generation
Electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
, transmission and distribution
Electricity distribution
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...
by the reforms carried out in the early 1990s. Generation occurs in a competitive and mostly liberalized market in which 75% of the generation capacity is owned by private utilities. In contrast, the transmission and distribution sectors are highly regulated and much less competitive than generation.
Generation
Thermal plants fueled by natural gas (CCGT) are the leading source of electricity generation in Argentina. Argentina generates electricity using thermal power plants based on fossil fuelFossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
s (54%), hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
plants (41%), and nuclear plants
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
(4%, two operational, one incomplete
Atucha II nuclear power plant
Atucha II is a nuclear power plant in Argentina, located in Lima, Buenos Aires, on a site next to Atucha I. Its construction started in June 1981 under a contract with Siemens, but it has not been finished . Like Atucha I, it is a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor , but was planned to have a much...
), with less than 0.1% renewable.CAMMESA Installed nominal capacity in 2006 was 24,046 MW. However, this scenario of gas dominance is likely to undergo changes due to gas exhaustion derived from the existing "bottlenecks" in exploration and production (E+P) and pipeline capacity. Gas output dropped for the first time ever in 2005 (-1.4%) and gas reserves dropped to ten years of consumption by the end of 2004 (down from an average of 30 years in the 1980s). Today, gas reserves are 43% lower than in 2000. This situation is further aggravated by the uncertainty surrounding the gas deals with Bolivia
Electricity sector in Bolivia
The electricity sector in Bolivia was privatized in the early 1990s and was unbundled into generation, transmission and distribution. The supply is dominated by thermal generation , while hydropower has a smaller share in its generation mix compared to other South American countries The...
and the plans to build new regional pipeline connections. Total generation in 2005 was 96.65 TW·h. The breakdown by source in 2003 had been: 59% from conventional thermal sources, 35.4% from hydroelectricity, 7% from nuclear power and 1% from geothermal sources.
The generators are divided into eight regions: Cuyo
Cuyo (Argentina)
Cuyo is the name given to the wine-producing, mountainous area of central-west Argentina. Historically it comprised the provinces of San Juan, San Luis and Mendoza. The term New Cuyo is a modern one, which indicates both Cuyo proper and the province of La Rioja...
(CUY), Comahue
Comahue
.Comahue is a sub-region of Argentina slightly to the south of the country's centre that covers the northern part of Argentine Patagonia and includes the provinces of Neuquén and Río Negro....
(COM), Northwest
Argentine Northwest
The Argentine Northwest is a region of Argentina composed by the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán.-Geography:The region had 5 different biomes:* Sub-Andean humid Sierras of the east...
(NOA), Center (CEN), Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
/Gran Buenos Aires (GBA-BAS), Littoral
Mesopotamia, Argentina
La Mesopotamia, Región Mesopotámica is the humid and verdant area of north-east Argentina, comprising the provinces of Misiones, Entre Ríos and Corrientes. The region called Litoral consists of the Mesopotamia and the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe...
(LIT), Northeast (NEA) and Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
(PAT).
Imports and exports
In 2005, Argentina imported 6.38 TW·h of electricity while it exported 3.49 TW·h. Net energy imports thus were about 3% of consumption.Argentina also imports electricity from Paraguay, produced by the jointly built Yaciretá Dam
Yaciretá Dam
The Yacyretá Dam or Hydroelectric Power Station Jasyretâ-Apipé is a dam and hydroelectric power plant built over the waterfalls of Jasyretâ-Apipé in the Paraná River, between the Argentine Province of Corrientes and the Paraguayan City of Ayolas. The dam is named for Yacyretâ Island just upstream,...
. On 18 September 2006 Paraguay agreed to settling its debt of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
11,000 million owed to Argentina for the construction of Yaciretá by paying in electricity, at the rate of 8,000 GW per year for 40 years.
Demand
Electricity demand in Argentina has steadily grown since 1991, with just a temporary decline caused by the economic crisis of 2001-2002 that has been followed by a quick recovery (6%-8% annual increase) in the last five years, partially due to economic recovery. In 2005, the country consumed 94.3 TW·h of electricity, which corresponds to 2,368 kWh per capita. Residential consumption accounted for 29% of the total, while industrial, and commercial and public represented 43% and 26% respectively.Demand and supply projections
Argentina currently faces a tight supply/demand scenario as reserve margins have declined from above 30% in 2001 to less than 10%. This fact, together with the deterioration in distribution companies services (i.e. cables, transformers, etc.), has the potential to endanger supply. To sustain a 6-8% annual increase in demand, it is estimated that the system should incorporate about 1,000 MW of generation capacity each year.Transmission and distribution
In Argentina, there are two main interconnected systems, SADI (Sistema Argentino de Interconexión, Argentine Interconnected System) in the North and center-South of the country, and SIP (Sistema de Interconexión Patagónico, Patagonian Interconnected System) in the South. Both systems are integrated since March 2006. The electricity market in the SADI area is managed by the MEM (Mercado Eléctrico Mayorista).Access to electricity
Total electricity coverage in Argentina was as high as 95% in 2003. However, about 30% of the rural population lacks access to electricity. The Renewable Energy in the Rural Market Project (PERMER) is one of several programs being implemented to enlarge electricity coverage in rural areas. (See World Bank projects below).Interruption frequency and duration
Interruption frequency and duration are considerably below the averages for the LAC region. In 2002, the average number of interruptions per subscriber was 5.15, while duration of interruptions per subscriber was 5.25 hours. The weighted averagesWeighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
for LAC were 13 interruptions and 14 hours respectively.
Distribution and transmission losses
Distribution losses in 2005 were 13.6%, down from 17% a decade before.Policy and regulation
The Energy Secretariat (SENER) is responsible for policy setting, while the National Electricity Regulator (ENRE) is the independent entity within the Energy Secretariat responsible for applying the regulatory framework established by Law 26,046 of 1991. ENRE is in charge of regulation and overall supervision of the sector under federal control. Provincial regulators regulate the rest of the utilities. ENRE and the provincial regulators set tariffs and supervise compliance of regulated transmission and distribution entities with safety, quality, technical and environmental standards. CAMMESA (Compañía Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Eléctrico) is the administrator of the wholesale electricity market. Its main functions include the operation and dispatch of generation and price calculation in the spot marketSpot market
The spot market or cash market is a public financial market, in which financial instruments or commodities are traded for immediate delivery. It contrasts with a futures market in which delivery is due at a later date...
, the real-time operation of the electricity system and the administration of the commercial transactions in the electricity market.
The Electric Power Federal Council (CFEE), created in 1960, plays a very important role in the sector as well. It is the administrator of funds that specifically target electricity operations (i.e. National Fund for Electric Power, see Recent developments below) and is also an adviser to the National and the Provincial Governments in issues relating to the power industry, public and private energy services, priorities in the execution of new projects and studies, concessions and authorizations, and electricity tariffs and prices. It is also an adviser for legislative modifications in the power industry.
The Argentine power sector is one of the most competitive and deregulated in South America. However, the fact that the Energy Secretariat has veto power over CAMMESA has the potential to alter the functioning of the competitive market. The functions of generation
Electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
, transmission, and distribution
Electricity distribution
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...
are open to the private sector, but there are restrictions on cross-ownership between these three functions. Argentine law guarantees access to the grid in order to create a competitive environment and to allow generators to serve customers anywhere in the country.
Generation
Private and state-owned companies carry out generationElectricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
in a competitive, mostly liberalized electricity market
Electricity market
In economic terms, electricity is a commodity capable of being bought, sold and traded. An electricity market is a system for effecting purchases, through bids to buy; sales, through offers to sell; and short-term trades, generally in the form of financial or obligation swaps. Bids and offers use...
, with 75% of total installed capacity in private hands. The share in public hands corresponds to nuclear generation and to the two bi-national hydropower plants: Yacyretá
Yacyretá Dam
The Yacyretá Dam or Hydroelectric Power Station Jasyretâ-Apipé is a dam and hydroelectric power plant built over the waterfalls of Jasyretâ-Apipé in the Paraná River, between the Argentine Province of Corrientes and the Paraguayan City of Ayolas. The dam is named for Yacyretâ Island just upstream,...
(Argentina-Paraguay) and Salto Grande
Salto Grande Dam
The Salto Grande Dam is a large hydroelectric dam on the Uruguay River, located between Concordia, Argentina, and Salto, Uruguay; thus is shared between the two countries....
(Argentina-Uruguay). The generation sector is highly fragmented with more than ten large companies, all of them providing less than 15% of the system's total capacity. Power generators sell their electricity in the wholesale market operated by the CAMMESA.
Transmission and distribution
The transmissionElectric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
and distribution
Electricity distribution
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...
sectors are highly regulated and less competitive than generation. In transmission, the Compañía Nacional de Transporte Energético en Alta Tension (Transener) operates the national electricity transmission grid under a long-term agreement with the Argentine government. In the distribution sector, three private companies, Edenor (Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte), Edesur (Electricidad Distribuidora Sur) and Edelap (Empresa de Electricidad de la Plata), dominate a market with 75% control by private firms.
Other important distribution companies at the provincial level are:
- Public provincial: EPEC (Empresa Provincial de Energía de Córdoba), EPESFI (Empresa Provincial de Energía de Santa Fé)
- Private provincial: ESJ ( Energía San Juan), EDET (Empresa de Distribución Eléctrica de Tucumán): EDEN (Empresa Distribuidora de Energía Norte), EDEA (Empresa Distribuidora de Energía Atlántica), EDES (Empresa Distribuidora de Energía Sur)
Renewable energy resources
The National Promotion Direction (DNPROM) within the Energy Secretariat (SENER) is responsible for the design of programs and actions conducive to the development of renewable energies (through the Renewable Energy Coordination) and energy efficiency (through the Energy Efficiency Coordination) initiatives. Complementarily, the Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is responsible for environmental policy and the preservation of renewable and non-renewable resources.The most important legal instruments for the promotion of renewable energy are Law 25,019 from 1998 and Law 26,190 from 2007. The 1998 law, known as the “National Wind and Solar Energy Rules”, declared wind and solar generation of national interest and introduced a mechanism that established an additional payment per generated kWh which, in 1998, meant a 40% premium over market price. It also granted certain tax exemptions for a period of 15 years from the law's promulgation. The 2007 Law complemented the previous one, declaring of national interest the generation of electricity from any renewable source intended to deliver a public service. This law also set an 8% target for renewable energy consumption in the period of 10 years and mandated the creation of a trust fund whose resources will be allocated to pay a premium for electricity produced from renewable sources.
Hydropower
Argentina's hydroelectric potential is being exploited only partially. While the identified potential is 170,000 GW·h/year, in 2006 hydroelectric production amounted just to 42,360 GW·h. There are also untapped mini-hydropower resources, whose potential is estimated at 1.81% of overall electricity production (in contrast with its current 0.88%).(For a comprehensive list of plants see Hydroelectric power plants in Argentina.)
Wind
The Argentine PatagoniaPatagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
region has a very large wind potential. The Chubut Wind Power Regional Center (CREE) estimated the theoretical potential for the region at 500 GW of electricity generation. However, this large potential is still largely unexploited. One of the reasons for this underdevelopment is that existing tariffs and incentives do not make wind power development attractive enough yet. However, the main deterrent to wind power development in the region has been the lack of transmission lines that connect the Patagonia region with the National Interconnected System. The completion of the Choele-Choel-Puerto Madryn high voltage line, the first section of Línea Patagónica under the framework of the Plan Federal de Transporte de Energía Eléctrica, eliminated this bottleneck in March 2006.
Nevertheless, wind power has increased significantly in Argentina during the last decade. Total operating wind power capacity in 2005 was 26.6 MW, shared by 13 plants. This is still only about 0.05% of the theoretical potential of wind energy in Argentina. The distribution of number plants and total capacity is:
- Buenos Aires Province: 6 plants, 6,100 kW
- Chubut ProvinceChubut ProvinceChubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
: 4 plants, 17,460 kW - Santa Cruz ProvinceSanta Cruz Province (Argentina)Santa Cruz is a province of Argentina, located in the southern part of the country, in Patagonia. It borders Chubut province to the north, and Chile to the west and south. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean...
: 1 plant, 2,400 kW - La Pampa ProvinceLa Pampa ProvinceLa Pampa is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza.-History:...
: 1 plant, 1,800 kW - Neuquen ProvinceNeuquén ProvinceNeuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west...
: 1 plant, 400 kW
Of the 13 plants, only three have been commissioned after the year 2000, with the remaining 10 built during the 1990s.
(See Wind power regime map for Argentina.)
Solar
Solar power is only present in remote areas. Just 81 MW·h were generated in 2005, less than 0.1% of total electricity production.The reforms of 1991/92
Prior to 1991, the electricity sector in Argentina was vertically integrated. The sector experienced a serious crisis in the summers of 1988/1989, primarily due to the lack of maintenance of the country's thermal power plants (50% were unavailable). Shortly after the crisis, the government of Carlos MenemCarlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
introduced a new legal framework for the electricity sector through Law 24,065, which included the following elements: vertical and horizontal unbundling of generation
Electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
, transmission and distribution
Electricity distribution
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...
; opening up of all segments to the private sector; and separation of the regulatory function from policy setting. As a result of the new law, there was substantial private investment which, together with the public power plants that started production in the 1990s, transformed a situation of power shortage and low quality into one of abundance and reliability at lower prices.
ENRE (Electricity National Regulatory Entity) was created in 1992. The Wholesale Electricity Market
Electricity market
In economic terms, electricity is a commodity capable of being bought, sold and traded. An electricity market is a system for effecting purchases, through bids to buy; sales, through offers to sell; and short-term trades, generally in the form of financial or obligation swaps. Bids and offers use...
(MEM), which covers up to 93% of total demand corresponding to the Argentine Interconnected System (SADI), was also created in 1992. The remaining 7% share of the demand corresponds to Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
, which had its own interconnected market, the Patagonian Wholesale Electricity Market MEMSP), now interconnected with the MEM. CAMMESA (Wholesale Electricity Market Administration Company) was also created that year and assigned the responsibilities of coordinating dispatch operations, setting wholesale prices and administrating economic transactions performed through the Argentine Interconnected System.
The reforms implemented in the 1990s led to high investment, which allowed for a 75% increase in generation capacity, resulting in the decrease of prices in the wholesale market from US$40/MW·h in 1992 to US$23/MW·h in 2001. However, the reforms failed to deliver the necessary increase in transmission capacity. Only one relevant project, the addition of the 1,300 km high voltage line between Comahue
Comahue
.Comahue is a sub-region of Argentina slightly to the south of the country's centre that covers the northern part of Argentine Patagonia and includes the provinces of Neuquén and Río Negro....
and Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, was built in the 1990s. Distribution networks were also renovated and expanded, which resulted in efficiency and quality improvements.
Tariff freeze
As a response to the 2001 economic crisis, electricity tariffs were converted to the Argentine pesoArgentine peso
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...
and frozen in January 2002 through the Public Emergency and Exchange Regime Law. Together with high inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
(see Economy of Argentina
Economy of Argentina
This article provides an overview of the Economic history of Argentina.-Emergence into the world economy:Prior to the 1880s, Argentina was a relatively isolated backwater, dependent on the wool, leather and hide industry for both the greater part of its foreign exchange and the generation of...
) and the devaluation of the peso, many companies in the sector had to deal with high levels of debt in foreign currency under a scenario in which their revenues remained stable while their costs increased. This situation has led to severe underinvestment and unavailability to keep up with an increasing demand, factors that contributed to the 2003-2004 energy crisis
Argentine energy crisis (2004)
The Argentine energy crisis was a natural gas supply shortage experienced by Argentina in 2004. After the recession triggered by the economic crisis and ending in 2002, Argentina's energy demands grew quickly as industry recovered, but extraction and transportation of natural gas, a cheap and...
. Since 2003, the government has been in the process of introducing modifications that allow for tariff increases. Industrial and commercial consumers' tariffs have already been raised (near 100% in nominal terms and 50% in real terms), but residential tariffs still remain the same.
Creation of Enarsa
In 2004, PresidentPresident of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
created Energía Argentina Sociedad Anónima (Enarsa
Enarsa
Enarsa , in full Energía Argentina Sociedad Anónima, is a company managed by the national state of Argentina for the integral exploitation of petroleum and natural gas, and the production, industrialization, transport and trade of these and of electricity.Enarsa was founded on December 29, 2004 by...
), a company managed by the national state of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
for the exploitation and commercialization of petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
, but also the generation, transmission and trade of electricity. Through the creation of Enarsa, the state will regain a relevant place in the energy market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
that was largely privatized
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
during the 1990s.
Energy Plus and Gas Plus programs
In September 2006, SENER launched the Energy Plus (Energía Plus) program with the objective of increasing generation capacity and meeting the rising demand for electricity. The program applies for consumption levels above those for 2005. CAMMESA requires all large users (above 300 kW) to contract the difference between their current demand and their demand in the year 2005 in the Energy Plus market. In this new de-regulated market, only energy produced from new generation plants will be traded. The aim of the program is twofold. In one hand, it seeks to guarantee supply to residential consumers, public entities, and small and medium enterprises. On the other hand, it aims at encouraging self-generation by the industrial sector and electricity cogenerationCogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
.
In March 2008, the government approved Resolution 24/2008, which created a new natural gas market called “Gas Plus” to encourage private investment in natural gas exploration and production. The Gas Plus regime applies to new discoveries and to “tight gas” fields. The price of the new gas, whose commercialization will be restricted to the domestic market, will not be subject to the conditions established in the “Agreement with Natural Gas Producers 2007-2011” but will be based on costs and a reasonable profit. Experts believe that, if the Gas Plus regime is successful, it could stimulate new investments in electricity generation plants under the Energy Plus regime as it could ensure fuel supply to the new plants.
The National Program for the Rational and Efficient Use of Energy (PRONUREE)
In December 2007, the government launched the National Program for the Rational and Efficient Use of Energy (PRONUREE, Decree 140/2007). This decree declared the rational and efficient use of energy to be in the national interest and is also part of the energy sector strategy to counter supply/demand imbalance. The PRONUREE, under the responsibility of the Secretariat of Energy, aims to be a vehicle for improving energy efficiency in the energy-consuming sectors and acknowledges that energy efficiency needs to be promoted with a long-term commitment and vision. It also acknowledges the connection between energy efficiency and sustainable development, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The program also recognizes the need for individual behavioral changes to be promoted with an educational strategy, with the public sector setting the example by assuming a leadership role in the implementation of energy conservation measures in its facilities.The PRONUREE includes short- and long-term measures aimed at improving the energy efficiency in the industrial, commercial, transport, residential and service sectors and public buildings. It also supports educational programs on energy efficiency, enhanced regulations to expand cogeneration activities; labeling of equipment and appliances that use energy; improvements to the energy efficiency regulations; and broader utilization of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM
Clean Development Mechanism
The Clean Development Mechanism is one of the "flexibility" mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol . It is defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, and is intended to meet two objectives: to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the...
) to support the development of energy efficiency projects. The objective of the program is to reduce electricity consumption by 6%.
One of the first activities defined under PRONUREE is the national program to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2011 in Argentina. The program, financed by the government, aims to replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp
Compact fluorescent lamp
A compact fluorescent lamp , also called compact fluorescent light, energy-saving light, and compact fluorescent tube, is a fluorescent lamp designed to replace an incandescent lamp; some types fit into light fixtures formerly used for incandescent lamps...
s (CFLs) in all households connected to the electricity grid and selected public buildings. The program, which has initially undergone a pilot phase and expects to replace 5 million incandescent lamps in the next six months, foresees the distribution of 25 million lamps overall. Staff from the distribution companies will visit each household to replace the incandescent lamps and to inform residential users on the advantages of replacing the bulbs and of the efficient use of energy in general.
Recent tariff increases, 2008
In Argentina, retail tariffs for the distribution utilities in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires and La Plata city (i.e. Edenor, Edesur and Edelap) are regulated by the national regulatory agency (ENRE) while provincial utilities are regulated by local regulators. While the utilities under ENRE's jurisdiction had not been allowed to raise residential tariffs since they were frozen in 2002 as a result of the Emergency and Exchange Regime Law, some provincial regulators had recently approved additional charges to residential tariffs. In particular, the Public Service Regulatory Agency in the Province of Córdoba (ERSeP) agreed in February 2008 to a 17.4% additional charge to residential customers. Likewise, Santa Fé approved increases between 10% and 20%; Mendoza between 0 and 5% below 300 kWh and between 10% and 27% above 300 kWh; Jujuy between 22% and 29% and Tucumán between 10% and 24%. Other provinces (i.e. San Juan, Chaco, Formosa, Corrientes, La Pampa, Neuqen, Río Negro and Entre Ríos) are expected to raise tariffs in the near future.Recently, in August 2008, after a 7-year tariff freeze, residential electricity tariffs in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (served by the Edenor, Edesur and Edelap utilities) have been increased by 10-30% for households that consume more than 650 kWh every two months. For consumption between 651 kWh and 800 kWh, the increase will be 10%; on the other end, for users over 1,201 kWh, the increase amounts to 30%. The increase impacts around 24% of all Edenor, Edesur and Edelap customers (1,600,000 households). For commercial and industrial users the increase will be 10%.
At the end of August 2008, ENRE also approved increases in transmission
Electric power transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
tariffs in the 17%-47% range. The increase granted by ENRE was below the increase determined by the Energy Secretariat for some transmission companies (e.g. Transener, Transba, Distrocuyo and Transnoa. Some of them (i.e. Transener, Transba), will most likely challenge ENRE's decision. An overall tariff revision is still pending and has been put off until February 2009.
Tariffs
Electricity tariffs in Argentina are well below the LAC average. In 2004, the average residential tariff was US$0.0380 per kWh, very similar to the average industrial tariff, which was US$0.0386 per kWh in 2003. Weighted averagesWeighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
for LAC were US$0.115 per kWh for residential consumers and US$0.107 per kWh for industrial customers.
(See History of the electricity sector for more information on the evolution of tariffs).
Subsidies
See Fund for the Electric Development of the Interior (FEDEI) below.Investment and financing
In 1991, the Government of Argentina created the National Fund for Electric Power (FNEE, Fondo Nacional de la Energía Eléctrica), to be funded by a share of the petrol tax and a surcharge on sales from the wholesale market. This Fund, which is administered by CFEE (Electric Power Federal Council), provides funding to the following other funds at the shares indicated:- 47.4%: Subsidiary Fund for Regional Tariff Compensation to Final Users (FCT), for homogenization of tariffs across the country (this created a de facto subsidy for those consumers in the areas with higher electricity costs)
- 31.6%: Fund for the Electric Development of the Interior (FEDEI), for generation, transmission and rural and urban distribution works. Most funds have been directed to rural electrification
- 19.75%: Fiduciary Fund for Federal Electricity Transmission(FFTEF) (created in 2000), for co-financing or projects in electricity transmission.
- 1.26%: Wind Energy Fund (created in 2002), for the development of wind energy,
In addition, CAMMESA, the administrator of the wholesale electricity market, had projected that by 2007 the country's energy demand would require an additional capacity of 1,600 MW. Faced with the need for specific investments but also with a lack of private investment, the Energy Secretariat (SENER) enacted Resolutions 712 and 826 in 2004, which created FONINVEMEM, the Fund for the Investment Needed to Increase the Supply of Electricity in the Wholesale Market. The Fund, which sought to encourage participation from creditors of the wholesale market, invited those creditors, mainly generation companies, to participate with their credit in the creation of the Fund itself.
Ongoing projects
There are several projects that are part of the government's response to the predicted electricity shortages. If all those plans are completed as expected, the capacity requirements for the next few years will be met.Thermal power
Two new CCGT plants, the José de San Martín Thermoelectric and Manuel Belgrano Thermoelectric, of 830 MW each, are under construction and expected to start full operations at the beginning of 2009. EndesaEndesa (Spain)
Endesa, S.A. is the largest electric utility company in Spain. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, has 10 million customers in Spain, with domestic annual generation of over 97,600 GWh from nuclear, fossil-fueled, hydroelectric, and renewable resource power...
, Total S.A.
Total S.A.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...
, AES Corporation
AES Corporation
AES Corporation is a Fortune 500 company that generates and distributes electrical power. The company was founded on January 28, 1981, as Applied Energy Services by Roger Sant from the US Federal Energy Administration and Dennis Bakke from the Office of Management and Budget. AES Corporation is...
, Petrobras
Petrobras
Petróleo Brasileiro or Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest company in Latin America by market capitalization and revenue, and the largest company headquartered in the Southern Hemisphere by market...
, EDF
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
and Duke Energy
Duke Energy
Duke Energy , headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.-Overview:...
are the main shareholders in the plants. Both plants, which have been financed through the FONINVEMEM (total investment amounts up to US$1,097 million), are expected to start full operations at the beginning of 2009.
In addition, the Planning Ministry announced in July 2007 the commissioning of five new thermal plants with a total capacity of 1.6 GW and an overall investment of US$3,250 million. These dual-generation turbine (gas or fuel oil) plants, which are expected to start operations in 2008, will be located in Ensenada
Ensenada, Buenos Aires
Ensenada is a city and port in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, located around the Ensenada de Barragán. It has 31,031 inhabitants as per the...
(540 MW), Necochea
Necochea
Necochea is a port city in the southwest of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located on the Atlantic coast, on the edge of the Quequén Grande river, from Buenos Aires City and southwest from Mar del Plata...
(270 MW), Campana (540 MW), Santa Fe (125 MW) and Córdoba (125 MW). Finally, Enarsa
Enarsa
Enarsa , in full Energía Argentina Sociedad Anónima, is a company managed by the national state of Argentina for the integral exploitation of petroleum and natural gas, and the production, industrialization, transport and trade of these and of electricity.Enarsa was founded on December 29, 2004 by...
has recently launched bidding for eleven small and transportable generation units (15-30 MW each) and for other three larger generation units (50-100 MW) to be installed on barges. These new units, whose base price is still unknown, will add between 400 and 500 MW of new generation capacity.
Nuclear power
In 2006, the Argentine government launched a plan to boost nuclear energy. The Atucha II nuclear power plantAtucha II nuclear power plant
Atucha II is a nuclear power plant in Argentina, located in Lima, Buenos Aires, on a site next to Atucha I. Its construction started in June 1981 under a contract with Siemens, but it has not been finished . Like Atucha I, it is a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor , but was planned to have a much...
, whose construction started in 1981, will be completed and will add 750 MW of generation capacity by 2010. In addition, the Embalse nuclear power plant
Embalse nuclear power plant
The Embalse Nuclear Power Station is one of the two operational nuclear power plants in Argentina. It is located on the southern shore of a reservoir on the Río Tercero, near the city of Embalse, Córdoba, 110 km south-southwest of Córdoba City....
, with 648 MW of generation capacity, will be refurbished to extend its operational life beyond 2011.
Hydropower
Yacyretá Dam
The Yacyretá Dam or Hydroelectric Power Station Jasyretâ-Apipé is a dam and hydroelectric power plant built over the waterfalls of Jasyretâ-Apipé in the Paraná River, between the Argentine Province of Corrientes and the Paraguayan City of Ayolas. The dam is named for Yacyretâ Island just upstream,...
's reservoir was elevated by 7 m to the height of 83 m as contemplated in its original design, which increased its capacity from 1,700 to 3,100 MW. This will lead to a 60% increase in its electricity output (from 11,450 GW·h to 18,500 GW·h). The reservoir rise was complete in February 2011 despite a serious controversy regarding the resettlement of people. Additionally, in 2006, bidding for the expansion of Yacyretá with the construction of a new 3-turbine plant in the Añá Cuá arm of the Paraná River
Paraná River
The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...
was announced by the Government. This expansion, to be finalized in 2010, would add 300 MW of new generation capacity.
Transmission
In regard to transmission, the Federal Plan for Transport of Electric Energy at 500 kV is under implementation under the umbrella of the FFTEF (Fondo Fiduciario para el Transporte Eléctrico Federal). The main lines of the plan (Línea Patagónica, Línea Minera, Yacyretá, Puerto Madryn – Pico Truncado, NEA-NOA, Comahue – Cuyo, Pico Truncado – Río Turbio – Río Gallegos) are already built or currently under construction. The lines built between 2007 and 2009 will add 4,813 new kilometers of high voltage transmission capacity.In addition, the Federal Plan for Transport of Electric Energy II, defined in 2003 and updated in 2006, has the objective of addressing the constraints faced by the regional transmission networks in the period up to 2010. This complementary plan has prioritized the necessary works according to their ability to address short-term demand issues. 109 of the 240 works identified in 2003 were considered of high priority and have already been completed or are under execution. Initially, investment for high priority works was estimated at US$376 million, while estimated investment for the rest of the works totaled US$882.2 million. However, this budget is under revision due to the increasing costs of materials such as steel and aluminum and of labor.
Summary of private participation in the electricity sector
Prior to 1991, the electricity sector in Argentina was vertically integrated. The new legal framework for the electricity sector included: vertical and horizontal unbundling of generation, transmission and distribution; opening up of all segments to the private sector; and separation of the regulatory function from policy setting.Currently, private and state-owned companies carry out generation in a completive, mostly liberalized electricity market, with 75% of total installed capacity in private hands. The publicly-owned share corresponds to nuclear generation and to the two bi-national hydropower plants: Yacyretá (Argentina-Paraguay) and Salto Grande (Argentina-Uruguay). On the other hand, the transmission and distribution sectors are highly regulated and less competitive than generation. In transmission, the Compañía Nacional de Transporte Energético en Alta Tension (Transener) operates the national electricity transmission grid, while in the distribution sector, three private companies, Edenor (Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte), Edesur (Electricidad Distribuidora Sur) and Edelap (Empresa de Electricidad de la Plata), dominate a market with 75% control by private firms.
Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development holds responsibility for the environment in Argentina.Greenhouse gas emissionsOLADE (Organización Latinoamericana de Energía) estimated that CO2 emissions from electricity production in 2003 were 20.5 million tons of CO2, which represents 17% of total emissions for the energy sector.CDM projects in electricityAs of August 2007, there are only three energy-related registered CDMClean Development Mechanism The Clean Development Mechanism is one of the "flexibility" mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol . It is defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, and is intended to meet two objectives: to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the... projects in Argentina, with expected total emissions reductions of 673,650 tons of CO2e per year. Of the three projects, only one is large-scale: the 10.56 MW Antonio Morán wind power plant in the Patagonia Patagonia Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean... region. Production of electricity from biomass waste in the Aceitera General Deheza and methane recovery and electricity generation from the Norte III-B landfill are the two small scale existing projects. World BankThe only active energy project financed by the World BankWorld Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty... in Argentina is the Renewable Energy in the Rural Market Project (PERMER). This project has the objective of guaranteeing access to electricity to 1.8 million people (314,000 households) and to 6,000 public services (schools, hospitals, etc.) located far from electricity distribution centers. Electrification of this dispersed market will be mostly carried out through the installation of solar photovoltaic systems, but also through other technologies such as micro-hydraulic turbines, wind and, eventually, diesel generators. The project, which started in 1999 and is expected to end in December 2008, has received a US$10 million grant from GEF Global Environment Facility The Global Environment Facility unites 182 member governments — in partnership with international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector — to address global environmental issues.... and a US$30 million loan from the World Bank. The Argentine Energy Secretariat has recently presented an Energy Efficiency project to the GEF. The objective of the project is to improve energy use, reducing its costs to consumers and contributing to the sustainability of the energy sector in the long term. A reduction in greenhouse gas Greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone... emissions is also sought. Inter-American Development BankIn November 2006, the Inter-American Development BankInter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean... approved a $580 million loan for the construction of a new 760-mile transmission line in northern Argentina that will connect separate grids in the northeastern and northwestern parts of the country, the Norte Grande Electricity Transmission Program. Andean Development Corporation (CAF)In 2006, Argentina received financing from CAF (Andean Development Corporation) for two electricity projects: the Electricity Interconection Comahue-Cuyo (US$200 million) and the Electricity Interconnection Rincón Santa María-Rodríguez (US$300 million), two of the high voltage transmission lines included in the Federal Transportation Plan. In the same year, Argentina also borrowed US$210 million from CAF for a program that aims at repairing the country's hydroelectric infrastructure.In June 2007, CAF approved a US$45 million loan to the Buenos Aires province for partial financing of the electricity transport capacity in the North of the province. Sources
See also
Public entities
Electricity distributors
External partners
Other
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