Starting this August, the province of La Rioja, Argentina, and the Antofagasta region, Chile, are joining forces to cooperate on renewable energy through the creation of a bilateral project aimed at contributing to energy sector policies, with a focus on strengthening non-conventional renewable energy distributed generation capacities in La Rioja, based on the model implemented in Antofagasta.

The treaty currently has funding from the cooperation agencies of the foreign ministries of both countries, ACSIA-Chile and FOAR-Argentina, with the participation of representatives from the Government of La Rioja, Parque Arauco La Rioja, the La Rioja Energy Secretariat, the Regional Government of Antofagasta, the Seremi of Energy of Antofagasta, and the University of Antofagasta.

With the progress of the discussions and proposed work, the goal is to promote the coordination of public and private stakeholders linked to the Non-Conventional Renewable Energy sector between the province of La Rioja and the Antofagasta region; improve the knowledge and technical capabilities of professionals in La Rioja in the development of comprehensive renewable energy distributed generation projects using solar photovoltaic technology; and identify the actual supply of specialized non-conventional renewable energy providers between both territories.

Within the framework of the meetings held, academic Diego Pulido, a researcher at SERC CHILE (Solar Energy Research Center) who has led the outreach sessions, presented the book 10 Years of SERC-Chile to the Energy Secretary of the province of La Rioja, Alfredo Pedrali; the Director of the 300 MW Arauco Wind-PV Park of the province of La Rioja, Emmanuel Rejal; and the Governor of La Rioja, Ricardo Quintela, with the purpose of promoting scientific research studies, teachings, and innovation in Chile in the face of the energy transition.