Distributed generation in Argentina seems to be advancing steadily. According to the Progress Report of the national Distributed Generation Law 27,424, prepared by the Ministry of Energy, the installed capacity in the sector increased from 30,689 MW in 2023 to 58,996 MW in 2024.
This increase represents a 44% growth in the number of Generation Units (UG) and a 92% increase in the installed capacity compared to the year 2023.
Last year was crucial. According to the report information, during 2024, the largest contribution of installed capacity was incorporated, 28,307 kW, which represents 48% of the total installed capacity.
In absolute terms, there are 18 provincial jurisdictions adhered to the Distributed Generation Regime. In addition, there are 330 registered distributors and cooperatives on the platform, for a total of 2,290 UG.
Provincial panorama
Analyzing the country’s map to see which provinces stand out, it is evident that the central region of the country attracts all the attention. To begin with, Cordoba province is, so far, the one with the highest number of UG (998) and the highest installed capacity (21,300 kW). The second place is held by Buenos Aires province with 630 UG and 12,474 kW.
Among the other adhered jurisdictions, CABA stands out (141 UG and 3,602 kW of capacity) and the provinces of San Juan (104 UG and 6,258 kW of capacity) and Entre Rios (86 UG and 2,448 kW of capacity). These five jurisdictions represent around 80% of the total installed capacity.
In the region, the most advanced province is Río Negro, with 34 generating users and 528 kW; Neuquén has 21 UG, 280 kW. Between the two provinces in the North Patagonia region, there are more than 20 ongoing procedures for a capacity of 409 kW.
Detailed view
According to the Ministry of Energy report, the almost 59 MW of installed capacity throughout the country under the distributed generation regime is equivalent to the annual electricity demand of more than 28,000 households, a figure calculated based on an average annual consumption of 3,600 kW/h per household.
Out of the total of 2,290 UG, almost 57% (1,299 UG) belong to the residential segment, while 38% (871 UG) belong to the commercial-industrial segment. Together, they cover 95% of the total; the remaining 5% is divided between governmental entities and official bodies (46 UG) and others (74 UG).
The analysis changes when considering the installed capacity. In this case, the commercial-industrial segment stands out, with 46 MW (78.1% of the total). The residential segment accounts for 5.9 MW (10%). Meanwhile, the segment of governmental entities and official bodies has 3.6 MW (6.1%) and others have 3.3 MW (5.7%).
In conclusion, the report highlights that there are 690 projects in process totaling 14.5 MW of installed capacity.
The trend of distributed generation in Latin America
Everything indicates that the trend in Argentina is encouraging, although it is still far from the numbers of the strongest economies in Latin America.
The growth of micro and mini distributed electricity generation systems in Brazil, verified by the National Electricity Agency (ANEEL) in 2024, was 8,845.5 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity.
According to data released by ANEEL, in 2024, 782,897 MMGD systems were installed in Brazil, of which 782,864 were solar panels photovoltaic, 29 were thermoelectric power plants, and four were wind power production. There was an increase of 1,062,923 consumer units among those that used the excess energy and credits generated by the installed systems.
Regarding Mexico, according to the figures from the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), there was a year-on-year growth of 48.40%. While in 2023, 731.92 MW from 76,101 interconnection contracts had been added, in 2024, 1,086.22 MW were added distributed among 106,934 contracts.
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