The national government will take a decisive step this Wednesday, August 12, to launch AMBA I , the first of the 16 strategic initiatives included in the National Plan for the Expansion of Electric Transport.
Today the resolution formalizing the call for bids and the tender specifications will be published, initiating the process to select the private company that will be in charge of the construction, operation and maintenance of the new infrastructure.
The call for bids turns into a concrete bidding process an initiative that the electricity sector has been following for months and will also be the first test of the new scheme with which the Executive seeks to mobilize private capital towards the large expansions of the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI) .
The Government defines this mechanism as a public works concession model that enables the private sector to invest in, build and operate transmission infrastructure without compromising state fiscal resources.
“We clearly see this as the beginning of a stage that has been postponed and is now going to materialize. For us, it is a truly important step. I don't know if I would call it a structural change, but it is the beginning of something very important,” said Héctor Ruiz Moreno, general manager of the Chamber of Generators and Value Chain of Renewable Energies (CEA) , in an interview with Energía Estratégica .
The organization adopted that name in February 2025, when the then Argentine Wind Energy Chamber formally expanded its representation to include all renewable energy sectors. Ruiz Moreno currently continues to serve as general manager.
An investment of USD 800 million
AMBA I contemplates an estimated investment of USD 800 million and approximately 270 kilometers of new transmission lines at 500 kV, 220 kV and 132 kV .
Its main components include a new 500/220/132 kV Plomer Transformer Station , STATCOM reactive compensation systems and complementary works for connection with the area's distributors.
Once completed, the expansion will allow an increase of approximately 2000 MW in the demand capacity that the system can supply in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area , where about 40% of the national electricity demand is concentrated.
The project aims to address a gap that has widened over the past decade: while residential demand has increased by 20%, high-voltage transmission lines have grown by only 8% , according to data released by the Ministry of Energy. The result has been greater infrastructure saturation and increasing restrictions in the country's main consumption hub.
For the renewable energy sector, this delay in the expansion of the grid also became one of the main constraints for continuing to incorporate projects.
“Growth and the construction of new transmission lines were clearly the bottleneck for the sector's expansion. Not only for the renewable energy sector, but for the entire electricity sector,” Ruiz Moreno stated.
The first test for private capital
Beyond the technical need for the infrastructure, the bidding process will have another challenge: measuring the actual interest of investors and financiers in participating under the scheme defined by the Executive .
The adopted framework stipulates that the project will be developed through a concession to the private sector, which will be responsible for the investment and subsequently for the operation and maintenance of the facilities during the contract period. The system for proceeding under this model had previously been structured by the Government for AMBA I and other priority expansions.
The process also includes the backing of a guarantee from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), currently being structured , while the future awardee will be able to request its adherence to the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) .
CEA believes that conditions exist for companies in the sector to participate in the new scenario.
“We support private investment, and it is clearly attractive. We don't see financing as a problem, especially for large companies in the sector: some are already self-financed, and others have financing offered by multilateral organizations, banks, and export credit agencies,” explained Ruiz Moreno.
The chamber had been raising for some years the need to seek private investment mechanisms to expand transmission , given the lack of available capacity to support the growth of renewable generation.
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In fact, Ruiz Moreno recalled that CEA had worked on a private proposal linked to the Vivoratá, Plomer and Abasto corridor, in Buenos Aires territory.
This precedent is relevant again because the official map accompanying the new National Plan currently includes Vivoratá–Plomer and Plomer–O'Higgins as independent works within the list of expansions considered to be of urgent and priority execution.
First offers in December
The formalization of the call will also activate the competition schedule.
According to an official statement from the Energy Secretariat, the presentation and opening of Envelope No. 1 , corresponding to the technical and financial qualification of the interested parties, will take place within 120 calendar days , with that stage scheduled for the first half of December 2026.
Once that stage is completed, the evaluation of the participants will proceed, followed by the opening of Envelope No. 2, corresponding to the economic offer .
The Government expects to complete the process and reach the award by the beginning of 2027 , while the signing of the concession contract would take place during the following months.
The project will be divided into two stages and will have a maximum construction period of 52 months .
The launch comes after several months of defining the schedule for major transport projects.
In December 2025, Energy Secretary María Tettamanti had told Energía Estratégica that she expected to launch the AMBA I tender during the first four months of 2026.
Later, during the Future Energy Summit Argentina , the Undersecretary of Electric Energy, Damián Sanfilippo , defined the transmission tenders as "the main objective of 2026" , at a time when the Executive was finishing structuring the processes to incorporate private participation.
The first piece of a plan worth more than USD 6.6 billion
The project is the first of 16 strategic initiatives in the National Electric Transport Expansion Plan , a portfolio that together includes investments exceeding USD 6.6 billion and the incorporation of 5,610 kilometers of 500 kV lines throughout the country.
The official map released along with the announcement allows us to understand the territorial scope of that agenda.
Among the works of urgent and priority execution are AMBA II + STATCOM Rodríguez, Vivoratá–Plomer, Plomer–O'Higgins, Puerto Madryn–Choele Choel–Bahía Blanca, Río Diamante–Charlone–O'Higgins, Rodeo–Chaparro–La Rioja Sur and Malvinas–San Francisco–Santo Tomé , among other expansions.
The portfolio also includes new transformer stations, corridors in the NOA and Patagonia and international interconnections with Bolivia and Paraguay , in addition to a future 500 kV link between Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego .
Several of these expansions are particularly relevant for regions with potential for incorporating new generation, so the ability of the new mechanism to advance on the rest of the portfolio will be closely followed by developers and generators.
For CEA, the pending infrastructure is not just a future need: there are investment decisions conditioned by the possibility of having greater transport capacity.
“There are investments waiting for this, and I believe they will flow as the Secretariat and regulatory authorities make decisions of this importance,” Ruiz Moreno said.
The result of AMBA I will serve as the first sign to determine if the model chosen by Argentina manages to attract private capital towards transmission and, from there, sustain a network expansion capable of supporting new investments in generation.