The concessionaires of the hydroelectric complexes of Diamante, in Mendoza; Futaleufú, in Chubut; Cabra Corral and El Tunal, in Salta; Río Hondo, in Santiago del Estero; and those of Tucumán will remain in charge of operations until April 30, 2027, or until the new awardee takes possession, whichever comes first. This was established by Decree 1349/2026, published in Argentina’s Official Gazette on November 11.
Continuity requires a step from each company. The concessionaires must send Argentina’s Secretariat of Energy a letter of adhesion, whose model is approved in Annex II, within seven calendar days of the decree’s entry into force, which coincides with its publication. Any concessionaire that does not adhere is still obliged to keep generating for at least 45 business days, while the national government takes the necessary steps to secure the service.
The decree adds a second definition. Articles 3 and 4 delegate to the Secretariat of Energy the power to set the guidelines for the national and international public tender for the new concessions, to grant them and to sign the contracts, under Articles 14 and 21 bis of Law 15,336 and Article 73 of Law 24,065. They also empower it to issue clarifying and supplementary rules for those processes.
The Secretariat of Energy Takes Charge of the Tenders
The decree’s recitals cite as precedents Decree 718/2024, which opened the process for Cerros Colorados, El Chocón-Arroyito, Alicurá and Piedra del Águila, and Decree 667/2026, through which the national government, together with Mendoza province, called the tender for Los Nihuiles and the sale of 100% of the shares of Hidroelectricidad Mendocina. For the Executive Branch, those two processes show that the state is moving ahead with new concessions for the hydroelectric systems under national jurisdiction. The four Comahue plants, in Neuquén and Río Negro provinces, have already changed hands, and their new concessionaires took possession in January 2026.
The text also recalls the work of the Equipo de Trabajo de Aprovechamientos Hidroeléctricos Concesionados, the government working group on concessioned hydroelectric facilities, to survey the technical, economic, legal and environmental condition of each concession. According to the recitals, the group submitted reports on each of the facilities under national jurisdiction.
For the five concessions listed in Annex I, the delegation is the step that enables the tenders. The resolutions for Futaleufú, Diamante, Tucumán and Río Hondo invoked Article 21 bis, which requires a tender when a concession expires, and based the extensions on the complexity of the bidding terms: water management rules, investments to extend the assets’ useful life, a redefinition of the perimeter and dam safety manuals, as Shale24 reported when reviewing the extensions for Río Hondo and Los Quiroga.
In Mendoza, the path is already set. The national government and the province signed an agreement in March 2025 to jointly carry out the international tender for the Diamante Hydroelectric System, 388 MW on the Diamante River with the Agua del Toro, Los Reyunos and El Tigre plants, operated by HIDISA, in which Pampa Energía, a diversified Argentine energy company, holds a 61% controlling stake. That shared scheme is already under way at Los Nihuiles, where Hidroelectricidad Mendocina operates the system until the awardee takes possession. The province reaches this stage with the joint tender model already working in its territory.
A Single Deadline Replaces the November and December Expirations
Until now, each complex had its own expiration date, set by different resolutions. Futaleufú, 560 MW operated by Hidroeléctrica Futaleufú, part of the Aluar group, Argentina’s aluminum producer, was due to run until December 15 under Resolution 130/2026. Diamante had the same date under Resolution 145/2026, as did Hidroeléctrica Tucumán, with 52 MW across El Cadillal, Escaba and Pueblo Viejo, under Resolution 168/2026, and Río Hondo, with 17 MW in Santiago del Estero, under Resolution 198/2026.
The most pressing case was in Salta. Resolution 489/2025 provided that Hidroeléctrica Río Juramento would remain in charge of Cabra Corral and El Tunal until November 30, 2026, twelve months after the contract expired, the transition period provided for in its Article 67.1. The two complexes, of 102 MW and 10 MW, are operated by AES Argentina, which in San Juan is on a different path with Ullum, whose plant is expected to return to the province.
The conditions of each transition also varied. Diamante had five calendar days to adhere and Río Hondo, ten business days; in both cases, a company that did not adhere had to keep generating for at least 90 calendar days. The decree brings them all under the same rule: seven calendar days for the letter and 45 business days of mandatory generation for any concessionaire that does not send it.