Roundup: Priority dispatch capacity auction, 90MW standalone storage project

Argentine wholesale power market administrator Cammesa’s transmission priority dispatch capacity auction corresponding to 2Q24 has begun.

Cammesa has published an auction schedule along with a document known as Annex 3, which outlines assignable capacity on the grid.

Offers are due by July 26 and capacity assignment is scheduled for August 23, according to information from Cammesa.

In a process corresponding to 1Q24, more than 45 projects sought a combined 3.70GW of transmission priority dispatch capacity. 

Given transmission restrictions, Cammesa assigned 1.29GW, spread across 13 solar PV and nine wind projects.

Projects looking to participate in the Mater term market, where large users and distribution companies contract green electricity from generators or traders under corporate power-purchase agreements, seek priority dispatch capacity.

Projects can apply for standard priority dispatch capacity, known as Mater Pleno, and Mater Reference A. Under Mater Reference A, introduced via a 2023 rule change, Cammesa can award priority dispatch on congested transmission corridors to Mater projects, on the understanding that some associated output may be curtailed (8% probability of curtailment).

High-ranking officials in the government have said they prefer a decentralized contract market like Mater rather than large, centralized government supply auctions such as those under the RenovAr program. 

Officials are working on a restructuring of the local power market, as commissioned by the executive branch.

Click here for more information on the 2Q24 process.

Energy storage project

A US$95mn standalone energy storage system planned for Atacama region in Chile was accepted for environmental review.

Construction work, which involves installation of 90MW of battery capacity spread across 180 modules, along with a 110kV substation, is penciled in to get underway in June 2026, according to documents filed by project owner Orion Power.

Chile’s pipeline of standalone energy storage projects is growing, and the recent approval of capacity transfer rules is expected to help spur investment. 

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