Doña underlined a core value that separates San Juan from the rest of the country—“We are the first province in Argentina that has begun to develop a photovoltaic panel Factory.”
EPSE’s president referred to the seven projects totalling to 213 MW that the National Ministry of Energy and Mining awarded the province at the end of 2016, within the framework of the 2015 program titled RenovAr.
The province has benefitted from the N1 and N2 projects in Ullum, that withstand 50 MW, as well as Ullum 3 and 4, which withstand 36 MW; Iglesia-Guañizuli at 80 MW; Sarmiento at 35 MW, and finally Las Lomitas, which will incorporate 2 MW.
“The potential is enormous”, continued Doña, following structural details and other questions related to the state and energy.
The difference with other regions in the country is that San Juan is the first district nationally that has taken on an integral production process that will include all points of the production line, and should finish around July or August of this year with the first wave of photovoltaic panels manufactured 100% in the province.
“The strategy in San Juan is to unite with the mining industry to create clean, or green energy, and produce components necessary to produce electricity, and then finally to try to transfer the technology from our province to other that find themselves in suitable conditions,” Doña continued.
EPSE’s president continued, “In general, the province finds itself in a position apt to develop alternative energies because we have in a really good area for solar radiation. We have been working on this since 2008 through a strategic decision made by the state.”
“We started this year with a desire to develop solar energy, starting with just a few components up to the production of electrical energy and, in this way, start to unite several disparate economies in San Juan,” he continued.
The provincial projects includes the generation of electrical energy, production of solar panels among a complete chain of value added starting with silicon and accompanied by a state-of-the-art R&D team.
The idea was leveraged from the natural and competetive properties held by the province, cultimating with its huge potential for solar.
Doña reiterated that in the province “we have lots of mining and, in particular, lots of high-quality quartz. From there you can get silicon, which is one of the primary materials needed in the production of solar photovoltaic cells that are then used in the production of solar panels.
When asked about the relationshp between the nation and the province in respect to energy, Doña said that “The decision to regulate auctions within RenovAr was a good one and they have gained thousands of MW for it,” but, he warned, “We’ll have to wait to see if everything works better.”
“We have the energy and the world is looking at us like an apple, waiting to take the first bite. There’s lots of interest for investment,” affirmed the president.
“All that’s left is for these projects to receive proper financing, which will come from the Banks, and finally allow us to bulid the plants. This will demonstrate the credibility that Argentina has and will further serve our growth,” he added.
“We need energy, but our country has the capacity, physical resources, geography, and manpower to be able to develop alternative energy projects,” he concluded.