ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Héctor Pozo Gowland, Esteban de Vedia, Carlos Ernesto Miná and Francisco Pozo Gowland, Pozo Gowland Abogados
2. Market Structure, Supply and Pricing 2.1 The Wholesale Electricity Market Structure Generators are involved in the wholesale elec- tricity market or MEM, together with the other agents: transporters, distributors and high- demand users. Two markets co-exist in the MEM: (i) a forward market, with volumes, prices and conditions freely agreed between sellers and buyers; and (ii) a spot market, with prices sanctioned hour- ly based on the economic cost of production, unlike the forward market where the price is freely agreed between the parties. Forward market Since 2013, entry into new contracts in this market has been prohibited, if they involve gen- eration from a conventional source (thermal or hydroelectric). However, contracts in this market are allowed if energy comes from a renewable project. This government expressed its intention to allow the celebration of new contracts in these markets. The new regulation is expected to be issued in 2025. Spot market Prices in the spot market come from the margin- al cost of the system (cost of the most inefficient machine that covers the demand) at a certain hour. Based on the demand at each moment and the availability of supply, CAMMESA dispatches the generation equipment that is able to cover the demand and is the most economical. The spot market price of each hour is the cost fixed for the most expensive machine dispatched in that hour.
In addition to the spot price, there is the seasonal price – the cost paid by distributors for the ener- gy they acquire from generators to supply users. Prices are stabilised on a quarterly basis since they are what users pay for the supply of energy. In this way, the distributors know the price of the energy purchased in the spot market, which they transfer to the rate paid by their customers. This modality is known as pass-through, since distributors transfer this cost directly to their customers’ rates. The differences between the spot price, paid to generators by CAMMESA, and the seasonal price, paid by distributors to CAMMESA, are accumulated in the stabilisation fund, which reflects the aforementioned gap and is used by CAMMESA when there are insufficient funds to pay generators from what was raised from dis- tributors, when the spot price is higher than the seasonal price. Storage In 2025, the Argentine government officially launched a landmark public tender through Res- olution No 67/2025 issued by the Secretariat of Energy. The tender calls for the development of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), one of the country’s most critical electricity demand zones. Known as the “AlmaGBA” project, the ini- tiative aims to install 500 MW of storage capacity in strategic nodes within the grid, with an esti- mated investment of USD500 million. The goal is to enhance grid stability, especially during peak demand periods, and to reduce reliance on emergency generation. The systems will be deployed in collaboration with the main electricity distribution compa- nies, Edenor and Edesur, and will be backed by CAMMESA as financial guarantor. The pro-
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