Argentina: RenovAr and biogas — 36 biogas projects, 4 landfill gas and 18 biomass

The RenovAr programme – Argentina's renewable energy auctions – comprised rounds 1, 1.5 and 2. According to an announcement by the Argentine government of 7 August 2018, a total of 147 projects in 21 provinces with a capacity of 4,466.5 MW were selected in them: 41 solar, 34 wind, 18 biomass, 14 small hydropower, 36 biogas and 4 landfill gas projects. For the biogas sector, then, 40 projects count, if landfill gas is added.

The course of the rounds

According to a summary published in Revista Ingeniería Eléctrica (December 2019), Round 1, announced in May 2016, offered 1,000 MW, including 65 MW of biomass and 15 MW of biogas; 29 projects with a capacity of 1,142 MW in 14 provinces were selected. Round 1.5 (October 2016) covered 600 MW of wind and solar energy, and 30 projects with a capacity of 1,281.5 MW were selected – without biogas or biomass. Round 2 (August 2017) offered 1,200 MW, including 100 MW of biomass and 35 MW of biogas, and a separate segment of 15 MW of landfill biogas; in November 2017, 66 bids for 1,408.7 MW were selected, and in the so-called Phase 2 further ones (which is why the sum of the capacities given for the three rounds is lower than 4,466.5 MW). The government announcement of 2018 indicates that in Round 2 a total of 88 projects were contracted.

Biogas in the rounds

In Round 1 the first biogas installations, according to EconoJournal and the CAMMESA summary in Editores, were CT Río Cuarto I in Córdoba (2 MW, biogas from vinasse and maize silage), Yanquetruz in San Luis (1.2 MW, waste from pig farming), San Pedro Verde in Santa Fe (1.42 MW) and CT Río Cuarto II (1.2 MW, Córdoba); biomass was represented by Pindó Eco-Energía (Misiones, 2 MW). In Round 2 the selections included Citrusvil in Tucumán (3 MW, biogas), Ampliación Bioeléctrica Dos in Córdoba (1.2 MW), 5 MW of landfill gas at Ensenada in Buenos Aires province and Bombal Biogás (1.2 MW, Santa Fe), whose agreement with CAMMESA was signed in August 2018 and which is to generate energy from animal excreta, waste from the oilseed industry, fruit and vegetable residues, agro-industry by-products and sludge.

Status of delivery in 2018

In June 2018 EconoJournal reported that seven projects of the programme were already supplying energy to the grid: three biogas, two biomass, a wind farm and a small hydropower plant; all from Round 1 began producing in the previous year. In August 2018 the government reported that in Round 2, 46 contracts (1,130.77 MW) had been signed from the 88 selected projects, that the biomass project CT Prodeman Bioenergía in Córdoba had begun commercial operation, and that five more were under construction.

Prices and contract status

According to the government announcement of August 2018, the weighted average price in successive rounds fell from USD 61.41/MWh in Round 1, through 54.02 in Round 1.5, to 51.49 in Round 2; minimum solar prices fell from 59 to USD 40.44/MWh, and wind prices from 49 to USD 37/MWh. This information concerns the whole programme, not biogas – for small biogas installations the price in any case results from the bid submitted in a given segment. The government also reported that 47 projects were then under construction and 6 in commercial operation, with a total capacity of 2,322.245 MW, and that 69 projects from Rounds 1, 1.5 and Resolución 202 had 100% signed contracts.

Differences in the data

In other summaries the figures for biogas and biomass may differ because of different classification (landfill biogas separately or together), withdrawn projects and the dates of the summaries. We did not confirm in open sources the figures sometimes given for Resolución 202 (157 projects, 4,966 MW) or the breakdown into 37 biogas projects with a capacity of 64.9 MW. The number of projects selected in an auction is also not equal to the number of projects actually built and operating.

What this means for Poland and Europe

The RenovAr experience shows both the advantages of auctions (price competition, separate segments for biogas and landfill gas) and their limitations: the programmes concern mainly small installations with a capacity of a few megawatts, and their delivery depends on financing and grid connection. For Polish renewable energy auctions it is an argument for separate baskets for smaller biogas installations.