Just Energy Transition and the Construction of Techno-Productive Capacities in Argentina

Abstract

The energy transition in peripheral countries such as Argentina represents a major challenge in terms of generating local technological capacities. Incorporating this dimension may transform the challenges posed by the climate crisis for countries of the Global South into opportunities for development. A transition toward a new socio-technical regime grounded in sustainability may foster the emergence of local innovation dynamics, the opening of new product lines, the creation of new productive enterprises, and new forms of production organization. In other words, it may encourage the development of new economic sectors, supplier networks, and export opportunities.

In recent years, different policies promoting the adoption of renewable energy sources have incorporated certain elements related to the development of local suppliers, either through quotas or through specific incentives within public bidding processes. However, only in a limited number of cases have concrete policies aimed at local technoproductive development been implemented. This paper seeks to reconstruct and analyze the trajectory of two key industrial sectors for the energy transition process in Argentina: the solar thermal industry and the wind energy industry. In particular, it focuses on the process of coconstruction between public policies and techno-productive development dynamics. Based on this analytical reconstruction, the article aims to contribute new reflections on the processes of just energy transition in peripheral countries.