Mauricio Macri's speech in Jujuy. Credit: Government of argentina

Argentina president Mauricio Macri has announced plans to establish a solar plant of up to 3GW in Northern Argentina.

The investment will be supported by the Federal government and will contribute towards the government's commitments at COP21 in Paris last year.

The aim is for the region of Jujuy to have 8% of its power coming from renewables in 2017 and for this to climb to 70% over eight or nine years.

The renewables promotion scheme, named 'plan Belgrano', will benefit 10 provinces of northern Argentina.

Macri said: “Jujuy and Northern Argentina can be a place for the future generation of solar energy and is an example of what we can do for Argentina and the world."