Argentina is expected to award up to 1,000 megawatts of long-term power contracts in an auction in May.

A new law approved last September requires industrial customers to get up to 8% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017, 12% by 2019, 16% by 2021 and 20% by 2025. Renewables account currently for only 1.8% of electricity.

Projects in Argentina may be challenging to finance. The country is talking to the World Bank about possible warranties to secure financing. (See World Bank Guarantees for Private Projects, in this issue.) The government is also expected to provide a 12-month guarantee of payments under power purchase agreements.