The El Quemado Solar Park has been inaugurated in the Las Heras department of Mendoza, Argentina, marking the largest single solar project in the country with 305 MW of installed capacity. Developed originally by Emesa and later acquired and built out by YPF Luz, the US$220 million project now pushes Mendoza’s total solar capacity above 700 MW, with the province on track to reach 1 GW of renewables before 2030.
The plant spans 620 hectares and uses more than 511,000 bifacial solar panels, 5,800 trackers, 1,170 inverters and new interconnection infrastructure to the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI). It is also the first renewable project to be approved and commissioned under Argentina’s Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), a framework designed to attract large private capital into long‑term infrastructure.
Officials including Governor Alfredo Cornejo, YPF president Horacio Marín and National Chief of the Cabinet Manuel Adorni all pointed to El Quemado as a model of how clear policy, public–private partnership and local execution can drive energy transition. Cornejo described it as the fulfilment of an institutional promise under RIGI and stressed the strategic role of renewables for Mendoza’s industrial and economic development.
Marín said the park allowed YPF to reach 1 GW of renewable generation, underlining the company’s shift toward a more diversified energy portfolio. Adorni hailed the project as “the Argentina of the future,” citing its role in demonstrating that stable, predictable rules can unlock major clean‑energy investments.
El Quemado is expected to reduce emissions by about 385,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, adding more than 11% of Argentina’s total installed solar capacity in one site.
