AlmaSADI Auction Drew 8,230 MW in Bids at 15% Below Price Cap

Argentina's first national battery storage auction, AlmaSADI, received on June 24, 2026 bids totaling 8,230 MW, eleven times the 700 MW target. The weighted average price was $10,568 per MW-month, 15.5% below the $12,500 cap, according to data from the economic bid opening conducted by CAMMESA.

The tender, launched in March 2026 under Resolution 50/2026 of Argentina's Secretariat of Energy, aims to incorporate battery energy storage systems (BESS) at critical nodes of the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI). The 232 qualified bids came from 37 domestic and international companies, with estimated investment of $700 million in this first phase, according to El Economista. Projects must guarantee at least four hours of continuous discharge and enter operation before December 2030. The demand, eleven times the target, contrasts with the prior AlmaGBA auction (focused on Buenos Aires), which awarded 713 MW in 2025 with $540 million in investment.

Offered prices ranged from $7,397 to $12,500 per MW-month, with regional averages spanning from $9,916.7 in the Centro-San Luis region to $11,194.3 in the Northeast (Chaco and Formosa), according to pv magazine Latam. Juan Luchilo, CAMMESA's general manager, noted that the competitiveness of the bids reflects a maturity in the storage market that exceeded the operator's expectations. The tender documents also include an incentive for bids below the awarded average of approximately $200 additional per MW, designed to reward commercial aggressiveness. The outcome provides a price benchmark for markets such as Mexico, Chile, and Brazil, where regulatory frameworks for utility-scale storage are still under development.

The formal award is scheduled for July 8, 2026. With demand eleven times the target, the result confirms Latin America's capacity to absorb large-scale storage at competitive costs and sets a price reference for future battery auctions across the region.

This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.