Argentina's AlmaSADI battery storage system tender received record interest, with 235 projects offered for exactly 8335.9 MW of power (an average of 35.5 MW per BESS), representing 12 times more (+1090%) than the target capacity of 700 MW of the call.
Energía Estratégica , an international news outlet focused on renewable energy, was present at the Hotel Conquistador in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires during the opening of technical and administrative bids, which was attended by various authorities from the National Energy Secretariat and more than 80 businesspeople from the sector.
Energía Estratégica took into account all participating projects and below is the complete list of bidders and details of the Argentine battery tender:
In total, 36 companies were presented, ranging from large national and international energy companies to smaller companies or those with a presence in the country, with accumulated capacities ranging from 920 MW to 10 MW, distributed as follows.
The opening of the envelopes was marked by great enthusiasm, so much so that the government and CAMMESA confided to this media outlet that the AlmaSADI tender "highly exceeded expectations," and it was even necessary to fill six complete ballot boxes to receive all the offers.
It's worth noting that the projects range from 10 MW to 150 MW in capacity at critical nodes in the Northwest, Northeast, Central, Litoral, Cuyo, and Buenos Aires regions (excluding the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area). These projects must operate for at least 180 cycles per year and are required to have four hours of unloading time.
While the target date for the start of commercial operations was finally moved from January 1, 2027 to May 1 of that year, the sector still considers it a tight deadline.
This is how the projects are distributed by region
What happens next in the process?
CAMMESA and the Ministry of Energy will conduct the evaluation of the administrative and technical proposals, and the results will be published on June 16.
The opening of the economic bidding process is scheduled for the 24th of that month, while the awarding of the contract would take place on Wednesday, July 8th, with an estimated investment of $700 million in this first stage.
Although there are conflicting versions within the renewable energy sector about whether more will ultimately be awarded, either through an invitation to improve the offers that were not awarded as part of an extension of this tender, or through a future call similar to round 1.5 of the RenovAr Program.
Or whether the target power of 700 MW will be maintained, plus an additional 10%, bringing the margin to 770 MW, as announced by the National Secretariat of Electric Energy during the Future Energy Summit (FES) Argentina meeting in early March of this year.
Energía Estratégica took into account all participating projects and below is the complete list of bidders and details of the Argentine battery tender: