Project Name

Energia del Sur/ 'Comodoro'

Location

Comodoro Rivadavia, Patagonia

Capacity

136 MW

Technology

CCGT

Equipment

2 x GE MS6001B gas turbines

Fuel

Natural Gas (locally sourced)

Additional details

Rurelec owns 50 per cent. of Energia del Sur S.A. ("EdS"), which owns and operates a 136 MW CCGT power plant in Southern Patagonia, Argentina.

Location

Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay.Population

44,694,198 (July 2018 est.).

Languages

Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French, indigenous (Mapudungun, Quechua).

Government Type

Presidential Republic

Capital

Buenos Aires

Administrative divisions

23 provinces and 1 autonomous city*; Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires*, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antarctica and South Atlantic Isles (Tierra del Fuego), Tucuman.

Legal system

Civil law system based on West European legal systems; note - in mid-2015, Argentina adopted a new civil code, replacing the old one in force since 1871.

Electricity - production

136.4 billion kWh (2017 est.).

Electricity - consumption

122.5 billion kWh (2015 est.).

Country comparison to the world

27

Economy - overview:

Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt, and capital flight.

Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER succeeded her husband as president in late 2007, and the rapid economic growth of previous years began to slow sharply the following year as government policies held back exports and the world economy fell into recession. In 2010, the economy rebounded strongly, but slowed in late 2011 even as the government continued to rely on expansionary fiscal and monetary policies, which have kept inflation in the double digits.

In order to deal with these problems, the government expanded state intervention in the economy: it nationalized the oil company YPF from Spain's Repsol, expanded measures to restrict imports, and further tightened currency controls in an effort to bolster foreign reserves and stem capital flight. Between 2011 and 2013, Central Bank foreign reserves dropped .3 billion from a high of .7 billion. In July 2014, Argentina and China agreed on an billion currency swap; the Argentine Central Bank has received the equivalent of .2 billion in Chinese yuan, which it counts as international reserves.

With the election of President Mauricio MACRI in November 2015, Argentina began a historic political and economic transformation, as his administration took steps to liberalize the Argentine economy, lifting capital controls, floating the peso, removing export controls on some commodities, cutting some energy subsidies, and reforming the country’s official statistics. Argentina negotiated debt payments with holdout bond creditors, continued working with the IMF to shore up its finances, and returned to international capital markets in April 2016.

In 2017, Argentina’s economy emerged from recession with GDP growth of nearly 3.0%. The government passed important pension, tax, and fiscal reforms. And after years of international isolation, Argentina took on several international leadership roles, including hosting the World Economic Forum on Latin America and the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, and is set to assume the presidency of the G-20 in 2018.

Source: CIA Worldfact Book, last updated November 20, 2018