Equinor joins wind farm development in Argentina
Equinor says that it has entered an agreement with YPF Luz where a subsidiary of Equinor will subscribe to shares in Luz del León. Luz del León is the company in charge of the Cañadón León wind farm project, currently under construction, located in the province of Santa Cruz in Argentina. The shareholders of YPF Luz are YPF S.A and an affiliate of General Electric.
The agreement establishes that Equinor will have a 50% stake of Luz del León, with an equity contribution of USD 30 million. After the subscription and capital integration, YPF Luz and Equinor will jointly control Luz del León, while YPF Luz will be in charge of the operations of the Cañadón León Wind Farm project. After the completion of the works, the wind farm will have a capacity of about 120 MW of power and a total investment estimated to around USD 190 million.
The total installed capacity and power has already been sold to CAMMESA under the RENOVAR 2 Program and to YPF S.A. under a private power purchase agreement for 20 and 15 years respectively.
"We are very satisfied with this agreement with Equinor as a strategic partner for the development of the Cañadón León wind farm," says Martin Mandarano, CEO of YPF Luz. “In this way, we add to our projects another very important worldwide energy leader, thus reflecting the confidence of such players and global investors in YPF Luz.”
“We are pleased to deepen and strengthen our relationship with Argentina’s leading energy company YPF, now also within wind power. We are looking forward to contributing to the development of the Cañadón León wind farm project and work together with YPF Luz ,” says Executive vice president for New Energy Solutions in Equinor, Pål Eitrheim.
The agreement is subject to the fulfillment of certain condition precedents such as approval of the relevant antitrust authorities and obtaining project financing.
Equinor entered Argentina in 2017 and holds a 50% interest in the oil and gas license Bajo del Toro (YPF operator, 50%) and is operator with 90 % equity in the Bajo del Toro Este license (partner Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén, 10%) in Neuquen.
In addition, Equinor had the highest bid for seven offshore exploration blocks in the 1st Offshore Licensing Round in 2018. Equinor also holds a 50 % interest in the Guanizul 2A (G2A) solar asset in Argentina where Scatec Solar is the operator.
