Argentina Makes Data Centers and Mines Bring Their Own Power Supply
ARGENTINA · ENERGY
Key Facts
- The country Argentina has about 46 million people and an economy of roughly US$690 billion, about a sixth the size of Britain’s. It is courting artificial-intelligence (AI) data centers and big mines with tax breaks.
- Why it matters One large data center can draw as much power as a mid-sized city. Transmission capacity is limited, and the government wants homes, shops and factories kept first in line.
- Why now Developers are floating AI campuses of up to 500 megawatts in Patagonia. A bigger incentive bill, whose draft also demands self-supplied power, is stuck in the Senate.
- What happened Energy Secretariat Resolution 264/2026 appeared in the Official Gazette on Friday 25 September and took effect that day.
- The numbers It covers new load of about 80 megawatts or more. At least 80% of energy must come from new plants; backup must cover 100% of peak demand, 115% for data centers.
- What it means for you Investors in large projects must budget for new generation before they connect. The government says household bills will not carry the cost.
- Still open The size of the penalty charges is not in the main text. Pending applications have 60 days to comply, and developers have not yet responded publicly.
The government wants artificial-intelligence companies to build data centers in Argentina. It does not want them living off the power that keeps homes and factories running.
A rule published Friday 25 September makes projects adding roughly 80 megawatts or more line up new power plants first. Data centers must go further and secure backup for 115 percent of their peak demand.
What the rule requires
The measure is Resolution 264/2026 of the Energy Secretariat, which sits inside the Economy Ministry. Energy Secretary María Carmen Tettamanti signed it on Thursday 24 September.
It creates a class of “extra-trend” demand, meaning load far above normal growth. It covers any new or expanded demand equal to at least 0.5 percent of average demand on the wholesale electricity market.
That market, known by its Spanish initials MEM, is where generators sell power to distributors and large users. The Secretariat says the threshold equals about 80 megawatts today.
For scale, Argentina’s 13 data centers of more than one megawatt total about 32 megawatts combined. That figure comes from a May survey by CABASE, the Argentine internet chamber, reported by Bloomberg Línea.
Projects above the line must file a special supply plan. At least 80 percent of their energy must come from new generation.
They also need firm capacity for all of their peak demand. Firm capacity is power a generator guarantees to deliver whenever the system calls for it.
Data centers must hold 115 percent. The Secretariat justifies the extra margin by their round-the-clock load and their sensitivity to outages.
“New” is defined strictly. Only plants that begin commercial operation after the project files its application count toward the requirement.
Developers may pick any technology and any supplier, the Secretariat said. They may also build their own plant at the same connection point.
The resolution rewrites Article 13 of Resolution 400, the October 2025 reform of the wholesale market. That earlier version covered only projects wired straight into the high-voltage grid, and required backing for up to 80 percent of consumption.
The new text also reaches projects connected through local distribution companies. It covers expansions of existing facilities too.
Why the government says it is needed
The Secretariat’s stated aim is to protect users already on the grid. In a statement, it said each large project must supply itself “at its own risk,” without shifting costs onto other users’ bills.
If supply runs short, homes, shops, small firms and existing industry come before large new users without backing, the Secretariat said. The resolution warns that big, concentrated loads put extra strain on reserves and grid stability.
It also addresses a transmission bottleneck. When several applicants compete for limited line capacity, the text says, speculative hoarding of that capacity must be avoided.
Projects that reserve capacity will pay a charge. Those that connect on schedule recover a substantial share, while delays or failure to connect cost them, according to the resolution.
Separate charges apply when energy contracts or firm capacity fall short, but the main text does not state their size. The conditions last 15 years from each project’s commercial start.
The text says that gives investors in new plants and lines a predictable horizon.
Not a decree, and not part of RIGI
The rule is not a presidential decree, and it is not an investment-approval condition. It governs who may join the wholesale power market, and on what terms.
RIGI, the Large Investment Incentive Regime, is separate. It gives big projects tax, customs and currency benefits, and the Economy Ministry approves each one individually.
The resolution’s main text does not mention RIGI, and its conditions apply either way. RIGI has approved 23 projects worth about US$49.8 billion, BNamericas reported on 22 September.
Twelve of those are in mining and seven in oil and gas. None is a data center, and only one technology project is under review.
A broader “Super RIGI” for projects of at least US$1 billion is stuck in the Senate. On 2 September allied senators withheld their signatures from a committee report, mainly over quotas for local suppliers.
That draft carried a power clause of its own. Power-hungry projects such as data centers would have to prove grid capacity and their own supply, a demand from allied senators.
The projects in line
The largest proposal is Stargate Argentina, an AI computing campus of up to 500 megawatts. OpenAI and local firm Sur Energy announced it in October 2025, with a price tag of up to US$25 billion.
It is still only a letter of intent. The project has not advanced and still depends on definitive agreements, Bloomberg Línea reported on 17 September.
Background: OpenAI’s $25 Billion Patagonia Bet Positions Argentina as a Latin American A.I. Hub
A data center drawing 500 megawatts at peak would need 575 megawatts of new firm capacity under the rule. Sur Energy signed memoranda of understanding with generators Central Puerto and Genneia in 2025, Bloomberg Línea reported.
Pampa Energía is studying a data center of up to 500 megawatts beside its Loma de la Lata power plant in Neuquén. The electrical infrastructure for that scale would cost about US$900 million, according to Bloomberg Línea.
In Chubut, Polish firm Green Capital is weighing a first phase of 300 megawatts, estimated at US$3 billion. Its plan includes its own wind and solar supply, off the grid.
Mines and heavy industry fall under the same rule as “production” projects, with the 100 percent test. The text names mining, liquefied natural gas plants and hydrogen production as examples.
Mining is a special case, because many projects sit far from the national grid. A 2023 Energy Secretariat resolution said projects in northern San Juan and the northwest lie beyond the grid’s reach.
What comes next
Applications already in process must be adapted to the new regime within 60 days. That includes projects that are not yet members of the wholesale market.
The Secretariat’s electricity undersecretariat may issue further implementing rules. CAMMESA, the company that runs dispatch on the wholesale market, will assess each project’s effect on system security.
The rule does not ban data centers or mines, and it does not touch RIGI benefits. Nothing in it changes household tariffs.
It also does not say where the new power for data centers in Argentina will come from. No public response from the developers named above had appeared by Friday afternoon.
More: Argentina news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Resolution 264/2026 require?
Very large new power users must get at least 80 percent of their energy from new plants. They also need firm backup for their full peak demand, or 115 percent of it for data centers.
Which projects does it cover?
Any new or expanded demand equal to at least 0.5 percent of average market demand, about 80 megawatts today. The text names data centers, mining, liquefied natural gas plants and hydrogen production.
Is it part of the RIGI investment regime?
No, it is an Energy Secretariat rule on access to the power market. It applies whether or not a project holds RIGI tax benefits.
Does the rule stop new data centers in Argentina?
No, it sets a price of entry instead. Each project must pay for new generation, by contract or its own plant, rather than draw on the grid’s reserve.
Sources: Boletín Oficial, Energy Secretariat Resolution 264/2026 (signed 24 September, published 25 September 2026) and Resolution 400/2025; Energy Secretariat statement as reported by Infobae, Ámbito and Perfil, 25 September 2026; BNamericas, 22 September 2026; Bloomberg Línea, 14 October and 4 November 2025, 7 and 17 September 2026; Argentine Senate, Parlamentario, El Día and elDiarioAR, 2–3 September 2026; IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026.
In depth
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