Argentina launches 500kV transmission project expression of interest call

To help get high-voltage transmission projects built and support the flow of mining investment in off-grid areas, cash-strapped Argentina is seeking expressions of interest from the private sector. 

Officials have a dual focus: transmission works that permit the connection of new generation capacity to demand hubs and transmission works that connect isolated mining zones to the power network.

The country has abundant renewable energy resources but continued development of utility-scale projects requiring access to the transport system is being hampered by a lack of spare capacity. 

The call was issued by the federal energy department via resolution and is aimed at existing or future wholesale power market actors and existing or future large offtakers linked to mining.

Transmission expansion works are usually paid for with public funds in Argentina, a country that has set a legally binding goal of achieving 20% of power generation from non-conventional renewable sources by end-2025. The proportion is expected to hit 15% this year.

The call is open to parties interested in managing and financing, or co-financing, projects. For expansion projects designed to link new supply to demand hubs, the State would provisionally contribute a maximum of 50%. Mining-related projects would not attract state financing. 

“Mining projects centered in the north of San Juan province and in the provinces that make up the [northwest] region would improve their feasibility from having power supply from the electrical network, under more efficient conditions in terms of costs and greater supply security, as they are located in areas currently not supplied by the Argentine interconnected system,” the resolution said.

Officials have published a list of proposed projects – involving new build works and initiatives to overhaul existing transformer stations – but may consider others put forward, according to the resolution. 

Proposed new-build projects offered under the expression of interest call. Credit: Argentina’s federal energy department.

Parties have 90 days to submit expressions of interest.

BNamericas was told last year by a wind power industry executive that the private sector in Argentina was willing to help finance a new 500kV line. Any investment decisions would partly hinge on subsidy segmentation – already being carried out – and on regulatory stability, among other factors.  

Officials recently announced a series of changes to the rules governing the Mater term market, where renewables generators directly supply large offtakers such as manufacturers under power-purchase agreements. The rules open the door for project developers to finance transmission expansion works and secure the corresponding additional priority dispatch capacity for their power plants. This type of project is cited in the latest resolution.

Argentina, battling triple-digit inflation and working to trim a hefty debt pile, has a multibillion-dollar transmission gap.

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The federal energy department recently published a high-voltage transmission expansion priority project plan, a document that does not resolve the key issue of financing. The bulk of projects appear in the list of works outlined in the expressions of interest documentation.

Officials recently announced the completion of what is described as the most important transmission project of the past decade. The work involved construction of 444km of a 500kV line and a new 500kV transformer station in Buenos Aires, among other components. The project is part of a group of three designed to bolster supply in Greater Buenos Aires. Line Choele Choel-Puerto Madryn is built and the third, Vivoratá-Plomer, is pending, the federal energy department said in a statement.

According to energy department documents, 500kV line Vivoratá-Plomer is top priority and requires US$370mn in investment. The planned line is a component of US$1.15bn transmission project AMBA I and would support the incorporation of 500MW of new wind power capacity.  

Argentina is executing a plan for new infrastructure of up to 220kV, using multilateral funding. 

Gas transporter TGN has formed a subsidiary to develop pipelines to supply mines, BNamericas reported recently