Total Eren, a renewable energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) based in Paris, has announced the successful commissioning of the 97.2 MW Vientos Los Hércules wind farm in Santa Cruz Province, in southern Argentina.
Vientos Los Hércules is Total Eren’s biggest wind farm to enter into operation in Latin America. It will produce approximatively 400 GWh/y – enough to meet the energy needs of approximately 110 000 households – and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 200 000 tpy.
The Government of Argentina awarded this project to Total Eren in October 2016, following the first round of the RenovAr call for tenders. Launched in May 2016, this competitive tender process aimed to diversify the national electricity mix while lowering energy generation cost. Total Eren was one of the first European companies to successfully enter the country’s renewable energy market at the time.
In December 2018, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) – one of Japan’s largest global trading and investment companies – acquired a 34% stake in the project through MIT Argentina Generation Holding Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui.
Total Eren achieved Financial Close for the project from KfW IPEX (loan guaranteed by Euler Hermes), DEG, and FMO.
The electricity generated by Vientos Los Hércules is contracted through a US dollar-based 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with CAMMESA, the Argentinian administrator of the wholesale electricity market.
Fabienne Demol, Executive Vice-President and Global Head of Business Development of Total Eren, commented: “We are very pleased to reach this new milestone in Argentina with our partner Mitsui. Vientos Los Hércules represents Total Eren’s third renewable energy project in operation in the country, following the commissioning of our Malaspina wind farm in the Chubut province only three months ago. I want to thank our teams for their hard work and resilience which made these achievements possible. We look forward to providing more competitive renewable energy solutions in Argentina and in Latin America.”
Martin Parodi, Managing Director of Total Eren in Argentina, added: “We are delighted to obtain the commercial operation of Vientos los Hércules wind project in Santa Cruz Province after a few years of hard work and perseverance due to the insolvency of our contractor and all the COVID-19 challenges that we suffered. I want to congratulate and thank our partner Mitsui and all of our teams for the commitment and efforts that they did to make this project possible. Also, I would like to thank our lenders and contractors who supported us during this period. Now, we look forward for more projects here in Argentina.”
