the Lack of energy It threatens to turn the promised Argentine mining boom into a distant dream. There are copper, lithium and gold production projects for which RIGI benefits have been requested 21 billion dollars Accounts indicate that the sector’s exports are modest It will multiply geometrically. But the difficult transition to the electrical system with Market rules This puts a desirable source of foreign currency at risk.
What today helps Doña Rosa pay a cheaper electricity bill does not generate an attractive context for companies that have to invest several billion dollars to extract copper on the eastern slope of the Andes and require up to 750 MW Energy is in its full phase.
This electricity is equivalent Two-thirds of what the thermal power plant produces Combined cycle, whose installation costs approx 1 billion dollars. It is an investment that is not easy to decide on amid a change in the rules of the game for the energy sector, while adapting it to subsidies.
In the mountain range north of Mendoza, mining development projects are proliferating, bringing together major global players in the sector, although the majority of these projects are still in a nascent stage.
The current performance of the sector is modest and today depends mainly on… goldwhose production declines. He falls 10% Last year and 39% Compared to 2018, mainly due to a contraction in exploration. Glory can be seen in the future, with the center of activity being moved from Santa Cruz to San Juan, Catamarca, Salta and Jujuy.
Potential investors requested entry into the Regime of Significant Investment Incentives (RIGI), which allows them to pay lower taxes, from profits to value-added tax, and the free availability of foreign currency they receive upon export from the fourth year of exploitation.
The nation has already awarded five of the ten development proposals 2 new gold deposits, 5 lithium and 3 copperand the latter are the ones who commit the largest capital.
The copper initiatives will enable $15 billion to be spent on producing one of the most sought-after metals in the world in the coming decades, which Argentina does not produce today, even though its geography generously provides it.
The fact is that these projects They are only viable with the necessary infrastructureFrom roads to power lines and power stations that supply the mines and surrounding buildings Constant energy. This is something that cannot be achieved without it, according to specialists Thermal power plants.
Under certain conditions, mining companies are willing to pave a road or lay a high-pressure line to supply their deposits, including that cost in their project equation. But not for Facing more expensive infrastructure Less than that, without a guarantee of exclusive use.
Vicuña – a partnership between world-leading mining companies such as Canada’s Lundin and Australia’s BHP – plans to produce copper in San Juan, adding to the Filo del Sol and Josemaría deposits.
Project design includes development – High voltage line 500 kWwhich will then be divided into two parts, To deliver electricity to an altitude of 4000 metres At a cost $330 millionvisualized in Eq.
A business bet is worth it if there is certainty that when the project reaches its maximum production level It can be taken from the interconnected national system or from its own source All the power a demanding enterprise requires.
As official documents acknowledge, the critical point in the Argentine energy system is the lack of electric transmission lines and private sector capital to carry out the work.
but Not much generationIts prices are not regulated, but it has been operating these years relying on state intervention in its various forms. To contain the state’s final rates Pay part of the electricity cost Through Cammesa (a state-run mixed company) providing fuel to the stations.
Current official policy aims to change this strategy to… Restoring market rulesIt is a transitional process that requires time and creates insecurity among potential investors.
In fiscal year 2026, there will be another reduction in energy subsidies, however It will not lose its validity. Only N1 can pay full rates. The Treasury will continue to cover 33% Of the price for middle-income customers (N3). 57% Low-income people (N2).
The new energy decision sets rules for generators Buy your fuel and enter into free contracts With distributors and then sell the product to them. A return to the “normality” of the market which is celebrated by all private sector actors.
However, distributors will not be “credit subject” because their financial situation is FlimsyThis is according to reports of private consulting companies.
The core of the most important companies – including urban companies Edenor and Edisor– Together they have a debt to Cammesa equivalent 1 billion dollarsPayment will start from April. Some also resort to the accounting shortcut of counting the amount of unauthorized price adjustments as a credit to fatten their numbers.
These weaknesses in one link of the chain (distribution) discourage investment in the other link (generation), especially when everything has to be solved on the market, without state supervision.
Some generators have directly contacted mining companies to propose a project Which solves the need for energywhile endorsing gas tankers that will save fuel. But dedicated investments are not They finish coagulating And time is short. To operate the thermal power plant at full capacity Four yearsA decision must be made today.
“What guarantee do we have that after investing in a power line, a third party will benefit from it, who did not provide the capital, or the state does not have Transferring light from your installation to residential users?“, speculate the mining companies. Roberto Cacciola, president of the Chamber of Mining Entrepreneurs, has raised these and other concerns with the nation and provincial governments, which are key in the design of mining businesses, always conditional on Argentine risks.
Mining threatens to be the main driver of domestic energy demand in the coming years. But the availability of this resource It is still a mystery to be solved.As well as the exchange rate and the cost of money. The very ambitious dream of the Minister of Energy of the State of Mexico depends on this. Double exports by 2030based on the $5 billion expected by the private sector for 2025, slightly less than the optimistic $6 billion estimated by the official agency.
