Aluar, Argentina’s only primary aluminum producer, on Thursday inaugurated the fifth stage of its wind farm near Puerto Madryn in Chubut province, which now has 582 megawatts of installed capacity, the largest of any wind farm in the country.
The new stage added Chinese-made Goldwind turbines with 336 megawatts, more than all earlier stages combined. The company says the farm is now about one of every eight megawatts of wind power in Argentina and could supply the electricity use of roughly 600,000 homes. Wind now covers about a third of the electricity needed by Aluar’s aluminum smelter in Puerto Madryn.
The latest stage cost US$400 million, bringing total investment in the farm to US$740 million, the company says. Aluar exports up to nine of every ten tons it makes, with sales above US$1.6 billion a year.
Aluar amended its bylaws in September so it can generate, store and sell electricity to third parties and build data centers, La Nación reported, citing a person familiar with the plan. The company already sells 60 megawatts of wind power and plans to sell 25 megawatts from a planned solar park.
Chubut Governor Ignacio Torres said at the inauguration that more companies could invest if Argentina had the high-voltage power lines it needs. Aluar plans to open a solar park in Buenos Aires province next year.