Argentina: YPF to build new solar park in San Juan
The “El Zonda” park will provide electricity to the region as well as to operating service stations in the area.
YPF inaugurated the construction of its first solar park through its subsidiary YPF Luz in the province of San Juan. Once completed, the facility will provide energy to the company's service stations across the country. An special event was held at the site to celebrate its start and to give details about the impact it will have on its network.
"This investment that arrives today to the province of San Juan is the result of planned work. The State has to generate the conditions for investment to arrive. This is what we are seeing here. This investment is the Argentina we are looking for: a federal country that integrates, that closes the gaps through investment and work", stated Juan Manzur, Head of the Government’s Cabinet.
Under the name of "El Zonda", the solar park will be installed on an area of almost 300 hectares. Its construction meant an investment of more than 90 million dollars, whose first stage will last about 14 months, generating new job opportunities as time goes by.
“YPF cumple 100 años y está impulsando la transición energética, que se va a financiar con los recursos convencionales y no convencionales que tiene la Argentina. La empresa estaba en una situación muy compleja que pudimos superar y hoy estamos por anunciar una inversión de 3700 millones de dólares, la más grande de los últimos años, y logramos detener la caída de la producción”, declaró Pablo González, Presidente de YPF.
Once all stages of the project are completed, the result will increase San Juan's current renewable generation capacity by 25%. The solar park will generate carbon emissions savings of 360,000 tn. CO2 equivalent per year compared to an equivalent thermoelectric plant.
Regarding service stations, the park will indirectly benefit them by supplying energy to mitigate their expenses. In turn, the amount of installed energy will be improved and thus it will provide better quality electricity to the grid.
"There is more environmental awareness and commitment from the station owners. And in a way, it is counteracting the image of polluting stations, both through the use of renewable sources and the classification of garbage, energy efficiency and more," said Analía Salguero, Head of the Chamber of Fuel Retailers of San Juan, to the news website surtidores.com.
