The Santa Cruz River originates from the Moreno Glacier, one of the only three glaciers in the world whose total area is still growing. Using the Santa Cruz River to generate electricity has been the dream of Argentinians for more than half a century. In the 1950s, studies pointed out that this river has very stable conditions for hydropower generation. However, due to various restrictions, this dream has not been realized.

In 2013, the joint venture formed by China Energy Construction Gezhouba Group and Argentine enterprises won the bid for the Kisei hydropower project, which showed the Argentine people the hope of realizing their dreams. After the completion of the hydropower station, the annual power generation will reach 4.95 billion kilowatt-hours, which is expected to meet the daily electricity consumption of 1.5 million Argentine households, save Argentina nearly 1.1 billion dollars of oil and gas import expenses each year, and even realize the export of electricity to Brazil, Paraguay and other neighboring countries.

At present, there are about 2800 people working in the project, and 5000 direct jobs and 15000 indirect jobs will be created during the construction peak.

The the Belt and Road Initiative is extremely important to the local development of Argentina, and has brought tangible benefits to Argentina. The the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Argentina has driven the construction of local infrastructure and had a very positive impact on Argentina and Latin America.Editor/Ma Xue