Victor Doña, president of EPSE, trust that Strategic Energy is working so that the tender can come out next month. The tender should then be for the first stage of the solar panel factory.
The official explained that there were complications due to the financial crisis, since April of this year, but that now they have the green light to send out the tender conditions.
The building, according to Doña, will be divided into at least two parts. A first part that will be tendered off in November and contains the civil works for the administrative building, plus a production line for PV modules. The surface area will be 7,800 m3 and have a capacity of 70 MW.
The president of EPSE is hoping that the factory is ready in 12 months after the tender process completes.
“We believe that we are within the time frame needed because the module line is relatively simple in relation to the other production lines that we are proposing,” stated the official.
The idea that EPSE, accompanied by the provincial governor, is not to assemble but rather to manufacture different components of the modules and create a product that is at least 80 percent nationally produced—something novel in Argentina.
Regardless, Doña explained that for unforeseen financial setbacks it was decided to start with assembly and cautiously begin to incorporate the other production lines in the factory.
So, the first part of the tender set for the opening part of the year will have to do with the other production lines—cells, wafers, ingots, or at least one of them—leaving a third stage for the other two.
The specialist explained that the objective is sure because the equipment has already been imported, as the last shipment arrived to San Juan last May. Everything is in storage. This three production line require a surface area of around 5,500 m3 stated Doña.