ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Héctor Pozo Gowland, Esteban de Vedia, Carlos Ernesto Miná and Francisco Pozo Gowland, Pozo Gowland Abogados
transmission companies must comply with regarding their environmental management sys- tems for the facilities under their responsibility. 4.2 Obtaining Approvals to Construct and Operate Transmission Lines and Associated Facilities Regulations for Obtaining Approvals The construction of new transmission lines is pri- marily regulated by the Regulation for Access to Existing Capacity and Expansion of the Elec- tric Power Transmission System, determined in Annex 16 to the Procedures. Annex 16 states that users or prospective users of the transmis- sion system (generators, distributors or large users) who require access to the existing energy transmission system must submit an application to the corresponding transmission company, whose system will integrate the line to be con- structed. The regulatory standard provides for the con- struction of new transmission lines under three basic modalities, depending on the characteris- tics of the project: • By contract between parties – The user requiring the connection directly enters into a contract with the transmission company that owns the system where the transmission line will be built. • By public tender – The party interested in having the expansion constructed can request authorisation from the Ministry of Energy to construct a transmission line through a public tender, which will be incor- porated into the “System Expansion Plan” prepared by the Ministry of Energy. The selec- tion of the contractor for the construction of the line will be subject to a bidding process, and the bidding documents will contain the terms and conditions governing the contract.
The work will be executed by the company that presents the best offer. • Minor expansions – These are small-scale projects, the cost of which does not exceed the values specified in the regulations. Construction of Transmission Lines Under the Public-Private Partnership Regime In 2017, the National Congress enacted Law No 27,328, which regulates infrastructure projects to be carried out through public-private partner- ship contracts. For this reason, the Ministry of Energy, through Resolutions No 2/19 and 7/19, incorporated the regime applicable to the con- struction of transmission lines under Law No 27,328 as Annex 19 to the Procedures. Although no electric power transmission lines have as yet been constructed under this regime, it is cur- rently in effect and there may be such projects in the future. Holding Public Hearings ENRE must convene a public hearing whenever it resolves issues related to the implementation of expansion works for electrical transmission facilities. The public hearings are one of several means to guarantee citizen participation in pub- lic decision-making, but they are not the only constitutional alternatives. 4.3 Terms and Conditions Imposed on Approvals to Construct and Operate a Transmission Line and Associated Facilities The construction of transmission lines is gov- erned through construction, operation and maintenance contracts (referred to as “COM contracts”). According to the provisions of Annex 16 to the Procedures, from a regulatory and economic- financial perspective, the project is divided into
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