World Energy Resources | 2016

WORLD ENERGY COUNCIL | WORLD ENERGY RESO URCES
ARGENTINA
Argentina has 10,118 MW installed hydropower capacity. Construction began recently on
the Nestor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic projects in 2016. The two stations, with a
combined capacity of 1,740 MW will be the largest hydropower project in Argentina and
also the largest electric power project undertaken by the Chinese in the international
market.
Argentina’s natural gas reserves overall may not be one of the world’s largest, however
Argentina’s reserves are noteworthy as a significant portion of them are unconventional
based. It is estimated that Argentina has the world’s second largest total of shale gas
reserves. Therefore, Argentina has the potential to significantly increase their natural gas
production as they further develop their shale gas capabilities.
Within Argentina, the Neuquén Basin is responsible for a large portion of the country’s
natural gas. More specifically, the Vaca Muerta formation in the Neuquén Basin is current
Argentina’s largest shale gas play. Certain key features of the Vaca Muerta formation set it
up to potentially have very large and rapid success. It has a lot of similarities to the Eagle
Ford basin in the US, which will allow US operators to efficiently apply their expertise
gained from that basin. Additionally, the Vaca Muerta formation already has established
road and pipeline infrastructure combined with a developed service sector. The
combination of these advantages should allow Argentina to effectively capitalise on the
shale gas potential in the Vaca Muerta formation.
Even though Argentina produces a respectable total of natural gas, their natural gas
consumption still outweighs their production levels currently. As a result, Argentina is a net
importer of natural gas. They currently import natural gas via both pipeline and LNG. In
2014, they imported 5.4 bcm of pipeline natural gas from Bolivia. Additionally, they imported
6.5 bcm of natural gas as LNG, including 3.4 bcm from Trinidad and Tobago.
Natural gas plays a significant role in Argentina’s energy mix as it was responsible for 49%
of Argentina’s primary energy consumption in 2014. Argentina’s heavily reliance on natural
gas for their energy mix is a major reason that they remain a natural gas net importer.
Argentina has three nuclear reactors Atucha-I (335 MWe PHWR), Atucha-II (692 MWe
PHWR) and Embalse (600 MW e PHWR) generating nearly one-tenth of the country’s
electricity demand. Construction of a small locally-designed reactor started in Feb 2014.
Plans for a fourth and a fifth NPP progress forward construction following agreement with
China to build a further PHWR and an ACP1000 which is a PWR. The Member
Committee foresees that by the end of 2030 four reactors will be in operation in Argentina,
with an aggregate net capacity of 3 GWe.
The government of Argentina is currently taking the first steps to develop a Waste-to-
Energy market. The construction of a WtE plant was announced in 2014 in Santiago del
Estero province, and is expected to start generating 50kW/h and increase to 250kW/h that
will be injected in the national grid. There is great potential in terms of resource, but also
because the energy demand is increasing. The nature of the MSW with high organic
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