The resolution of the Additional Reliability Reserve Service (SerCA) is still being defined within the Energy Secretariat and would not be the first to be released with respect to the new regulations for future projects.
According to information obtained by Energía Estratégica from sources close to the process, the regulations For extra-trend demands (Xdem) to be accompanied by a new generation , the market would be more advanced today and would have a greater chance of being published earlier.
“SerCA is close, but some details are still being finalized, hence the delay,” sources close to this news portal assured.
The difference lies in the level of maturity of each scheme. While Xdem has its core guidelines in place, SerCA is still undergoing adjustments regarding the mechanism by which new firm capacity will be incorporated into the system .
One of the models gaining traction would combine public tenders with the current dynamics of the Renewable Energy Term Market (MATER), which has quarterly calls for dispatch priority based on the availability of electricity transport capacity.
The delay was not initially part of the sector's calculations. More than a month ago, the Secretary of Energy herself, María Tettamanti , had anticipated that the regulations related to the new service could be released within the next 15 days and even predicted that "around 1000 MW per year will have to be incorporated."
That deadline passed without publication, and sources consulted by this media outlet indicate that the additional time is due to the fact that the architecture of the mechanism is still being finalized , rather than a decision to halt the initiative.
The official intention remains: to create a tool that allows the incorporation of new capacity under a criterion of technological neutrality and to use it recurrently according to the needs of the system.
Thermal power plants, storage, hybrid projects, renewable solutions with batteries, hydroelectric infrastructure and other technologies capable of providing firmness could compete there.
AlmaSADI left a clear signal.
Argentina's recent tender for stand-alone BESS systems, called AlmaSADI, awarded 700 MW of battery storage capacity distributed across 20 projects , out of 235 technical bids totaling 8,338 MW . This means that over 7,000 MW of submitted proposals were not included in the process .
The Government decided not to expand the original volume, so a good part of those initiatives were left waiting for later mechanisms and SerCA appears as a natural alternative to absorb part of that portfolio, although under different conditions than AlmaSADI and without being limited exclusively to storage.
The other precedent is the contractual market. From the first call for bids at the end of 2017 to the present, according to information from CAMMESA provided for this article, 7960 MW have dispatch priority , although not all of that capacity is commercially available.
Meanwhile, Xdem seems to be on a faster track, given that the system will have to absorb new large-scale demands that cannot be connected under the same rules as conventional consumption .
Data centers, artificial intelligence, mining and large production facilities appear among the main cases.
“These very significant demands cannot be met simply with the current system. This means there needs to be regulation, so that a demand of this kind must be accompanied by a generation capacity to support it,” warned Báez, team leader at CAMMESA, during an event attended by this news outlet.
"This means there needs to be regulation, so that a demand of this kind has to come with a generation that supports it," he added.
The arrival of new intensive blocks can accelerate investments, but also aggravate generation and transmission constraints if there is insufficient backup at the nodes where they are incorporated .
“ That’s another area where we have a near-term expectation of what we might see in the short term ,” Báez added. Therefore, this is a significant issue given the sector’s projected growth.
Gabriel Baldasarre , president of the Association of Electric Power Generators of the Argentine Republic (AGEERA), also joined the debate on future demand and estimated that by 2050 electricity consumption will tend to equal the demand for gas.
“It's practically tripling our current generation system, from 44 GW installed to an additional 85 GW. We're talking about an accelerated pace, which requires investment in generation, but also investment in electricity and gas transmission to take advantage of the potential and use gas as a fuel in the transition,” Baldasarre stated.
“We believe that this growth in generation, in turn, entails a need for transmission in order to implement all these projects, and we are asking that perhaps 40,000 more kilometers of line be built than we have today,” he added.
Transportation: the works that will need to accompany the new market
Argentina has already launched part of that initiative. In mid-August, the government formalized the call for bids and the specifications for AMBA I , the first of the 16 strategic initiatives included in the National Plan for the Expansion of Electric Transport.
The project involves an investment of approximately $800 million and around 270 kilometers of new lines at 500 kV, 220 kV and 132 kV .
It includes the new Plomer 500/220/132 kV Transformer Station , STATCOM systems and complementary connection work with distributors.
Once completed, it would increase the capacity to supply the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area by around 2000 MW , where approximately 40% of the national electricity demand is concentrated.
The plan also includes other important corridors that appear among the upcoming projects that could move towards tendering.
- LT Río Diamante-Charlone-O'Higgins 500 kV transmission line to evacuate new generation from Cuyo and transport part of the production coming from Comahue.
- LT Puerto Madryn-Choele Choel-Bahía Blanca , also at 500 kV, to strengthen the connection of Patagonia with the main system and enable renewable projects in the south.
While the sector awaits the final format for incorporating new firm capacity, sources consulted by Energía Estratégica place Xdem one step ahead within the Ministry of Energy .
SerCA remains active. But before entering the market, a central question still needs to be answered: under what mechanism will the upcoming projects, which must provide stability to the Argentine electrical system, compete?