Argentina Breaks Ground with First Large-Scale BESS Tender

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On September 1, Argentina's federal government awarded a 667-megawatt (MW) tender for the Alma-GBA project, which will be the South American country's first large-scale battery energy-storage system (BESS) project. It is designed to service the Buenos Aires metropolitan area.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for a list of detailed reports for projects related to Alma-GBA.

The construction of the BESS project is anticipated to generate investments of US$540 million and to be operational within 12 to 18 months. The selected companies will sign contracts with local distributors Edenor and Edesur, with the Company Administrator of the Wholesale Electricity Market (CAMMESA) as payment grantor.

The contract exceeded the government's initial 500-MW target by 30%. The process involved 15 companies that presented projects totaling 1,347 MW.

So far, Argentina has seen very limited BESS development; however, Alma-GBA could set the stage for further projects.

Five additional qualified projects with a total capacity of 222 MW, which were not selected due to price, may still contract with Edenor and Edesur at a price of US$12,591 megawatt-hours (MWh) per month, if they notify CAMMESA within five days.

While Alma-GBA represents the first large-scale BESS development in Argentina, some power plants already have implemented the technology. The Cañada Honda Solar Park has a total BESS capacity of 6 MWh, which, according to 360Energy, is the only renewable project with such technology presently connected to the national grid in Argentina. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed plant profile.

Beyond Alma-GBA, IIR Energy is tracking six renewable projects with their respective BESS power plants in Argentina.

Renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind require battery systems to store excess energy generation and be used in times of lower availability (such as evening hours and during low wind speeds). According to CAMMESA, Argentina has wind and solar generation capacities of 4,346 and 2,102 MW, respectively.

In the first half of this year, renewable power generation, excluding large hydroelectric power plants (above 50 MW), produced 12,441 gigawatt-hours (GWh), 17% more year-over-year. Wind and solar power increased generation by 16.8% and 25.5%, respectively, compared to the first six months of last year.

Renewable energies, excluding large hydroelectric power plants, represented 17.4% of the power share between January and June of this year.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).