Argentina plans new national tender to contract large-scale battery storage

Argentina is moving forward with a new public tender for battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Following the success of the AlmaGBA callheld in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, which awarded more than 700 MW despite an initial target of 500 MWthe government is now preparing a similar auction at the national level.

According to information obtained by Energía Estratégica, the Ministry of Energy has nearly completed the tender documents for the upcoming AlmaSADI auction.

The process is expected to award approximately 500600 MW of BESS capacity to replace forced thermal generation in several regions of the country.

This new tender is expected to mirror the RenMDI 2023 process, which allocated more than 630 MW of capacity across nearly 100 sites to replace fossil-fuel generation in critical nodes of the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI).

The RenMDI tender was the first in Argentina"s history to contract projects that included battery storage.

Its success sparked additional market interest in standalone BESS projects and ultimately led to the creation of the AlmaGBA auction.

The Ministry of Energy had already signalled its intention to launch additional tenders for renewable energy and battery storage, but this time without the State acting as the off-taker.

Throughout this year, Argentina began restructuring its Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM) under new sectoral guidelines aimed at:

• decentralising energy contracting

• enabling a more flexible dispatch regime

• establishing price signals that reflect real energy costs

These reforms help explain the government"s decision to move ahead with another national tender.

Another factor encouraging a new call is the high quality and competitive pricing achieved in the AlmaGBA auction.

The results could allow authorities to set a price cap for the upcoming BESS tender.

Market conditions are also favourable following the global decline in battery costs and the ability of BESS projects to solve critical operational constraints within deployment timelines of 12 to 18 months, making them a key tool for grid stability and renewable energy integration.

The sector now awaits the publication of the official tender documents by the Ministry of Energy, which will define the key parameters of the planned AlmaSADI auction, including:

• final capacity to be awarded

• potential modifications relative to previous tenders

• eligible technologies and project configurations

• expected commissioning deadlines

• evaluation criteria and pricing rules

Once released, the tender will mark a new milestone in Argentina"s strategy to accelerate energy storage deployment, reduce dependence on fossil-fuel generation, and support a more flexible and reliable national grid.