Roundup: Impsa share sale, priority dispatch, pumped storage project halt and more

Impsa 

The senate of Argentine province Mendoza voted in favor of authorizing the transfer of the jurisdiction’s shares in cash-strapped energy infrastructure company Impsa.

Mendoza’s lower house had greenlit the proposal earlier in the month. The bill now goes to the executive for signing into law.

Majority-owned by the jurisdiction and the federal government, and with a debt burden of US$500 million, Impsa is being offered to the private sector.

According to local press, the main interested party in fully acquiring Impsa is US firm Arc Energy.

The federal government controls 63.7% of the company and Mendoza 21.2%, while creditors hold 9.78% and the Pescarmona founding family 5.26%.

The federal government would also need the green light in congress to offload its stake. 

Mater

Argentina’s wholesale power market administrator Cammesa launched a transmission capacity priority dispatch auction.

The process corresponds to 3Q24, with applications due October 25 and capacity assignment scheduled for November 25.

Priority dispatch capacity is sought by renewables projects seeking to participate in the Mater term market, where the likes of renewables generators sell output to offtakers such as manufacturers. 

In the previous process, for 2Q24, Cammesa awarded 116MW of standard priority dispatch capacity, known as Mater Pleno, and 573MW under Mater Reference A, introduced via a 2023 rule change. Under Reference A, Cammesa can award priority dispatch on congested transmission corridors to Mater projects, with the understanding that some associated output may be curtailed (8% probability of curtailment). 

Cammesa also awarded 300MW of Reference A capacity under another 2023 rule change, where developers can apply for capacity associated with future new demand for clean power that, in turn, would impact assignable capacity on the grid. 

Find out more about the 3Q24 process

Wholesale power market

Argentine generator MSU Green Energy sought wholesale power market access for four solar PV projects in Chaco province: Villa Ángela II (9MW), Villa Ángela III (10MW), Villa Ángela IV (11MW) and Villa Ángela V (30MW).

MSU, which has 160MW of capacity online, is aiming to reach the 1GW capacity milestone in 2027.

Villa Ángela capacity is due online next year.

Acciona Acera exit

Generator Acciona Energía said it was leaving Chilean renewables and storage association Acera.

A founding member, Acciona alleged Acera had been focusing on favoring the interests of a “specific segment of the industry,” local media outlet La Tercera reported.

Acciona’s exit follows that of German generator RWE.

Acera has opposed a controversial formula, proposed by the government to raise money for an end-user subsidy, that would temporarily result in PMGD distributed generation plants receiving a revenue haircut.

An associated bill is under discussion in congress. 

Pumped storage project

Generator Colbún decided to halt development of the US$1.4 billion pumped storage project Paposo after environmental authorities terminated its evaluation early, alleging a lack of information, which Colbún rejects.

The move also comes after Colbún filed an appeal, which was overturned by the Antofagasta regional office of environmental review agency SEA. 

In a statement, Colbún said it would evaluate its next steps and claimed an associated SEA Antofagasta appeal decision document lacked coherence and contained errors. 

SEA's central office told local daily El Mercurio that it would "continue working to harmonize criteria in the environmental impact evaluation system so that they are applied at national level."

During a hydrogen event held recently in capital Santiago, Colbún VP Bernardo Larraín criticized the current permitting system and called for a change that would allow wrinkles to be ironed out in the early stages of the permitting process.

Former finance minister Ignacio Briones, in comments on social media platform X, referred to Chile’s permitting system, where processes are deemed complex and lengthy and, often, an investment headwind.

“High environmental standards cannot be synonymous with a tangled web of discretionary authorizations,” Briones said.

Permitting reform bills are in congress.

Wind park project

Viento Verde is seeking environmental authorization to increase the size of planned Coquimbo region wind park Camarico.

Given the green light in 2015, 39MW Camarico remains in the early construction preparation phase.

Viento Verde wants to swell capacity to 79.5MW.

Associated investment is US$120mn, with building work penciled in to start in July 2025, according to documents filed with SEA.