Description

Argentina reached 20th position among the 55 countries assessed in Climatescope 2014 with a 1.24 score out of a possible 5. Compared to its regional neighbors, the country ranked 9th among Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Once attractive for non-large hydro clean energy investment, Argentina has recently lost much of its luster. From 2006 to 2012, the country attracted $2.7bn in such funding. However, in 2013, that fell 70% from prior year to just $153m.

Overall market risk, lack of financing alternatives, subsidies, low tariffs and offtaker counterparty risk and policies not fully implemented are the main hurdles renewables face in Argentina today. As a result, clean energy deployment has slowed, and today the country is far from achieving a previously announced 8% non-large hydro clean energy generation target by 2016.

Argentina is still home to important clean energy manufacturing and service provider value chains, but both are more a reflection of the size of its $488bn economy than a currently thriving renewables sector. Looking ahead, there are few signs of substantial near-term clean energy growth unless macroeconomic conditions, conventional power subsidies, or both change significantly.