Argentina calls for progression integration of ESS in its energy system

Argentina is expected to call for expressions of interest (EOI) for deployment of energy storage systems (ESS) in its electricity generation and transmission networks very soon, based on the country's latest official bulletin issued by the Secretariat of Energy under the Ministry of Economy.

As the country has set a target of achieving 20 percent of renewable energy contribution in its national electricity consumption by the end of 2025, the bulletin acknowledges the cardinal role of energy storage systems in this regard, whose "progressive integration is necessary to achieve the objective of a cleaner and more efficient electrical energy matrix". 

"The electrical energy storage technology has reached such a development that it represents an opportunity for its integration into the transmission and generation network, and to incorporate some of its applications to contribute to the supply of demand, optimize dispatch, reduce costs and provide additional services to the operation", it adds. 

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CAMMESA, Argentina's wholesale electricity market operator, has been entrusted with the responsibility to come up with the technical requirements and procedures for considering the EOIs in the next 20 days. Interested players will have 120 days to submit their detailed proposals on financing, construction and management of ESS in the wholesale electricity market. 

Considering that Argentina is the fourth largest producer of lithium in the world in 2022, the bulletin has noted that those EOIs that integrate the national supply chain into their project (say for lithium-ion based BESS that use lithium from Argentina) will be of particular interest. So far, the country is dominated by pumped-storage projects.

As reported by BNamericas, the country is interested in energy storage projects for the main grid, as well as the isolated southern province of Tierra del Fuego. 

It is to be noted that Argentina has already floated tenders for solar PV installations with battery storage systems at microgrid scale via its rural electrification program 'Permer'.