The largest solar power plant in South America is located in the middle of the Puna jujeña

Like a gigantic mirror in the middle of the desert stretches out in the Argentine north which will be the most important solar park of South America. Once completed (it is already 80% completed and will be inaugurated in a few months), it will house 1.2 million solar panels spread over 800 hectares.

It is the solar power station of Cauchari, located in the puna jujeña at more than 4000 meters of altitude. The complex of Parks I, II and III will generate 300 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 120,000 homes.

These real solar fields, each composed of 512 chains of 18 photovoltaic modules, will also prevent about 330,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year from entering the atmosphere. Clean energy

Negotiations are underway to bring production to 500 megawatts, able to satisfy 250,000 homes, but before and now will depend on China's approval. This is the bank through which the Asian giant has motorized part of its external policies, which has provided $ 330 million essential to the financing of the project, that the province of Jujuy should repay with an annual interest of 3% to 15%. years . And it's the same bank that plans to shell out another $ 200 million for the second installment, while she was responsible for detailing the financial daily.

The journey to Cauchari requires a calculated climb through the arid landscape. At 4,000 meters altitude, the sun's rays fall with such fury that the photovoltaic panels need a special protection of 20% higher compared to ultraviolet rays.

"This is the most irradiated area in Argentina and one of the most irradiated in the world," said Guillermo Giralt, technical director of Cauchari Solar, illustrating the unequaled conditions that the puna has for the deployment of a photovoltaic installation having these characteristics.

The executive highlighted the positive aspects of low vegetation, low rainfall and low night temperatures that contribute to equipment ventilation.

And for much of the year, when the sun goes down, temperatures reach 25 degrees below freezing.

The solar giant was forced to open 57 kilometers of a new parallel road in order to adapt the river cbads to cope with the summer rains and install his own service customs in order to speed up the arrival of materials from the port of Zárate (Buenos Aires). from Chile.

The Cauchari I, II and III project is based in Puesto Sey, a small indigenous community with legal status and title to their land. For this reason, the government of Gerardo Morales de Jujuy decided to badociate it with an agreement in which he agrees to give them 2% of the annual profits made, a figure of up to a million dollars a year.

In this context, they also decided to create cooperatives so that community members are those who provide transportation, health and food services, among others. They have also started to offer professional training allowing a large part of them to participate in the construction and operation of the factory.

Crossing the perimeter fence, the red flag with yellow stars flames next to the Argentine flag. Inside the camp, some 600 local workers move in the mountainous landscape amid strict security measures. The integration of the inhabitants of Susques, Puesto Sey, Olaroz and other neighboring localities was one of the demands of the community leaders.

In the same article, the newspaper Ámbito stated that during the last phase of the project, the number of workers would reach 1,200, but once the parks start to function, they can be maintained with less than 15,000 people. ;one hundred. The long-term plan is to maintain local occupation with cooperatives that provide basic services in Cauchari such as food, transportation and security. In addition to the jackpot: 2% of the final profits attributed by the sale of energy.

The stage of the civil works to condition the ground and lay the foundations of the solar structures is almost complete, but it remains to locate a good part of the mounting of the supports and 50% of the laying of the cables. At the same time, the transmission booths must be completed. The final step will be to bademble 90% of the panels that are still waiting in the boxes, because the engineers have preferred to preserve them from premature degradation. So yes, the final phase and the start will start, which is planned for the temporary window that goes from August to December.

Official calculations are thrilled by the fact that the contract signed with CAMMESA, whereby the wholesale electricity market management company is committed to buying the energy generated over the next two decades, leaves direct benefits to the province for 1,000 million pesos a year.

But the look goes further, as China badyzes different projects to expand its presence in Argentina. Successful management, they believe, will ultimately open the appetite of investors of President Xi Jinping, who aspires to make his country one of the world's most powerful renewable energy actors.

The Eximbank loan was accepted in May 2017 at a summit held by President Mauricio Macri with Xi Jinping. This link opened the door to the realization of this work on a group of companies originating from the Asian giant.

Shanghai Electric Power Construction Co., a subsidiary of the construction company Power China, is in charge of the construction. China is also the supplier of solar panels: Talesun.