Argentina to strike USD-35bn infra financing deal with China - report

The government of Argentina is expected to sign a financing agreement with China to secure around USD 35 billion (EUR 31.4bn) for infrastructure projects under a five-year investment plan, Argentine financial daily Ambito Financiero reported on Wednesday.

The signing of the agreement in principle is expected today, Thursday, days ahead of president Alberto Fernandez’s official visit to China in early February, Ambito reported citing sources.

The Chinese money would be invested in the construction of Argentina’s fourth nuclear power plant, Atucha III, the Nestor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic hydroelectric dams, and also the expansion of the 300-MW Cauchari solar PV farm in the province of Jujuy, the report further states.

Ambito’s sources mention a sum of USD 400 million, which would be used to expand the Cauchari complex to 715 MW.

The Cauchari solar farm, consisting of parks I, II and III, came online in September 2020. It was built by PowerChina’s subsidiary Shanghai Electric Power Construction and partly funded by Export-Import Bank of China. The plant’s owner is Argentine state-run mining company Jemse.

Other projects in the investment plan include the Arauco wind farm, railway modernisation, a gas pipeline, but not the 5G network development due to Argentina’s lack of infrastructure for this type of technology, Ambito reported.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.896)

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