Electric Power Transmission System Expanded

Resolution 83/2026 of the Secretariat of Energy, published in the Official Gazette on April 7, 2026, incorporates Section 2.6, Title VI “Expansions through Public Works Concessions” (Law 17520) into the “Regulations for Access to Existing Capacity and Expansion of the Electric Power Transmission System2 of Annex 16 to “Proceedings for the Operation, Planning, Charges Dispatching,” and the Prices Calculation of Compania Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Electrico (CAMMESA).

This Resolution was issued within the framework of Decree 921/2025, which provides that priority transmission expansion projects identified by Resolution 715/2025 of the Ministry of Economy must be carried out under the public works concession regime in Law 17520.

Key aspects of the new framework

Section 2.6 regulates the procedure applicable to expansions of the electric transmission system capacity that the Executive Branch has classified as eligible to be implemented under the public works concession regime (COP expansions). For this, Section 2.6 establishes these guidelines:
 

1. Award and contractual structure

COP Expansions will be carried out by the successful bidders of public tenders—local or international—called by the Secretariat of Energy, either directly or through a designated agency. Each successful bidder will enter into a public works concession agreement related to the relevant COP expansion with the granting authority and will act as concessionaire.

2. Technical license and connection arrangements

A technical license will be executed together with the execution of the COP Agreement. This license will include supervision arrangements and model connection agreements between the COP concessionaire and the existing transmission concessionaires and/or technical operators of the transmission system to which the COP expansions will be connected (as applicable).

3. Term and operational schedule

The COP agreement will have a maximum duration of 30 years from the commercial operation date of the relevant COP expansion and will be divided into a construction phase and an operation and maintenance phase. During this period, the COP concessionaire will act as an Independent Transmission Operator (ITO). Once the agreement expires, the facilities will be transferred to the Federal State at no cost.

4. Remuneration and financing

COP expansions will not be financed with funds from the federal budget. Instead, CAMMESA will pay the COP concessionaire directly through:

1. a monthly payment for the investment made in the construction of the COP expansion, which may be funded through a tariff paid by wholesale electricity market users that benefit from the COP expansion (COP Tariff),
2. an additional tariff for operating and maintaining the facilities, payable once the project becomes operational, that the regulator will determine in accordance with the tariff regime in Law 24065 and applicable to existing ITOs for similar 500 kV facilities.

The value of the COP tariff will be determined with the Federal Electricity Regulatory Agency’s (ENRE) intervention or with the intervention of any governmental entity that assumes the ENRE’s jurisdiction. The tariff will be subject to a public hearing before being approved.

5. Payment priority

The amendment to subsection (e) of Section 5.6 of Chapter 5—Payments to Creditors—of the Procedures expressly includes claims related to COP expansions within the priority payment regime. Accordingly, payments associated with COP expansions will have priority within the wholesale electricity market settlement system, to support project financing.

6. Private initiatives

The framework also allows submitting private initiatives, subject both to this regime and to the Private Initiative Regime approved through Annex III of Decree 713/2024.

Regulatory oversight and next steps

Regarding oversight, ENRE will continue to exercise its supervisory functions until the new Federal Electricity and Gas Regulatory Agency, created through Law 27742, becomes operational.

Through this regulation, the federal government aims to streamline the electricity system and foster conditions for new investments. The Undersecretariat of Electric Power will be responsible for preparing the bidding documents for the public tenders of the projects identified in Resolution 311/2025 of the Secretariat of Energy, namely:

1. AMBA I,
2. 500 kV Rio Diamante – Charlone – O’Higgins Line,
3. 500 kV Puerto Madryn – Choele Choel – Bahia Blanca Line.

These are expected to be launched in the second half of 2026.