Argentina's Energy Secretariat , through Resolution 311/2025 , defined the first three transmission projects to be awarded to the private sector through a national and international bidding process for companies with the technical and financial capacity to carry out the projects. One of the selected projects is AMBA I, with over 500 km of infrastructure that will improve supply capacity in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, reducing the need for inefficient generation and improving system reliability in one of the country's main consumption centers, which accounts for 40% of national energy demand. The second project is the 500 kV Río Diamante-Charlone O'Higgins line, a corridor that will allow for the evacuation of more renewable and conventional generation that can be installed in the Cuyo region, while also allowing for the evacuation of some of the generation from Comahue. The third selected infrastructure project is the 500 kV Puerto Madryn-Choele Choel-Bahía Blanca transmission line, which will improve the connection between Patagonia and the main grid. These projects are part of the recently launched megaplan of 16 priority projects totaling more than 5,600 kilometers of 132 kV and 500 kV power transmission lines, designed to alleviate bottlenecks and prevent outages in the Argentine Interconnected System (SADI). Unlike previous models, the new scheme is based on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, in which the entire investment, construction, operation, and maintenance will be the responsibility of the private sector, without compromising state resources. In other words, as Energía Estratégica anticipated ( see article ), the The projects will be financed and executed by private companies, at no cost to the State, and will be funded through tariff payments from users of the Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM) who benefit from this new infrastructure. The winning bidder will only be able to recover their investment once the project is completed and operational.
Once the contractual period for the operation and maintenance of the expansion works has expired, the concessionaire must transfer the constructed facilities to the National State at zero value, and their operation and maintenance may be assigned by the Grantor to the Transmission System Operator of whose system the expansion in question is an integral part. While no dates have yet been set, the document clarifies that the National Energy Secretariat will determine the timing and sequence of the calls for bids for each of the aforementioned works. The dispatch priority and/or priority of use of available capacity granted to the winning bidder may be transferred, in whole or in part, to third parties that are agents or participants in the Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM). "Request for priority of use of available capacity over third parties of up to 90% of the transmission capacity to be built, for a period that may not exceed the useful life of the associated demand project, a circumstance that must be accredited by the Client(s) of the COM Contract."
In exceptional, duly justified cases, the National Electricity Regulatory Entity (ENRE) may consider the request for priority use of available capacity over third parties, for more than 90% of the transmission capacity to be built,” details Resolution 311/25. Meanwhile, for transmission expansions associated with projects in the Renewable Energy Term Market (MATER), the priority dispatch reservation over third parties will have a total validity period of 10 consecutive years.