On October 23, 2025, the National Energy Commission (the "CNE", per its acronyms in Spanish) published in the Federal Official Gazette the General Administrative Provisions that set forth the legal, technical, and financial terms to apply for the issuance and amendment, of power generation and storage permits, as well as their validity (the "Regulations", per its acronym in Spanish).
The Regulations govern: (i) permit applications, (ii) the amendment of permits granted under the Electric Power Public Service Law, (the "LSPEE", per its acronym in Spanish) and the Electricity Industry Law, (the "LIE", per its acronym in Spanish), and generation permits under the Power Sector Law (the "LSE", per its acronym in Spanish); (iii) assignment of generation and storage permits, (iv) merger or spin-off of generation or storage permits, (v) migration of LSPEE and LIE permits to the LSE regime, and (vi) the term of validity of permits.
The application for a power generation or storage permit must be filed through CNE’s Electronic Filing Office (the "OPE", per its acronym in Spanish) using the corresponding form. The general requirements for such applications are set forth in Articles 23 and 24 of the Regulations of the Power Sector Law and Chapter 2 of the Regulations.
Amendments must be submitted using the forms contained in the Regulations. Regardless of the regime under which a permit was granted, applicants must be up-to-date and in compliance with all obligations set forth in the permit title and on the payment of governmental duties.
Regarding modifications to the works program, if the application moves the commercial operation date by more than six months or the period established by the National Center for Energy Control (the "CENACE", per its acronyms in Spanish), an official letter from CENACE attesting to the feasibility of the new commercial operation date must be filed with CNE. For LIE or LSE permits, a one-time extension may be requested and such extension may not exceed one-half of the originally approved term. This is without prejudice to the right to request extensions due to force majeure or acts of God.
The cases set forth in Resolution A/015/2022 issued by the now-dissolved Energy Regulatory Commission, or any successor agreement, are deemed updates rather than amendments.
a. Amendments to LSPEE permits
For permits granted under the LSPEE, amendments will not be allowed for the following cases: (i) changes to the location of the power plant that modify the state, municipality, or node of interconnection; (ii) changes to the generation equipment technology; (iii) increases in capacity under generation permits or the incorporation of Battery Energy Storage Systems (“BESS”); (iv) changes to the demand to be imported under import permits; (iv) a change in permit modality; and (v) the interconnection of previously non-interconnected power plants.
Load centers with LSE or LIE contracts, or those registered in the Registry of Qualified Users, may not be included in LSPEE permits.
Notwithstanding, the following amendments are allowed:
It must be noted that the Regulations do not make an express mention of the possibility to modify offtakers in a self-supply permit. In this regard, it could be argued that given that self-supply permits are subject to the provisions of the LSPEE, to the extent that they do not oppose the LSE and its Regulations, such amendment could be processed prior amendment of the expansion plans set forth in the self supply permit.
b. Amendments to LIE permits
Amendments to generation permits granted under the LIE regime are restricted when the application seeks: (i) changes to the location of the power plant that modify the state, municipality, or node of interconnection; (ii) changes to the generation equipment technology; and (iii) increases in capacity under generation permits or the incorporation of BESS.
LIE permit holders must submit various documents depending on the type of amendment sought. The types of amendments that may be applied for include:
In addition, applicants must evidence their technical and financial capacities, and submit the financing program and business plan that include the total estimated investment.
c. Amendments to LSE permits
LSE permit holders may not request changes to the location of the power plant that modify the State, Municipality, or node of interconnection.
Notwithstanding, these permits may be modified in the following matters:
In addition, applicants must provide evidence of their technical and financial capacities, and submit the financing program and business plan that includes the total estimated investment.
For the assignment of a permit, both parties (the assignor and the assignee) must be registered with the OPE and jointly request the assignment.
The assignor’s must be up to date in the compliance of its obligations under the permit, and must file an agreement assigning the rights under the permit and transferring the facilities, containing a clause under which the assignee assumes all rights and obligations under the permit, and which must be subject to the condition precedent consistings of the CNE granting its authorization, and formalized before a notary public.
The assignee’s filing must include its Tax Status Certificate with an opinion of compliance with tax obligations, and its shareholding structure down to the level of natural persons, with a statement as to whether it holds other permits in the sector.
In addition, compliance with the business plan must be evidenced, and the assignee must provide proof of technical and financial capacities, and present an amendment to the business plan.
Mergers or spin-offs of a permit holder must be notified to the CNE.
In the event that a transfer of a permit is carried out as a result of such corporate movement, diverse information must be submitted to the CNE, including that relating to compliance with the business plan and the accreditation of the technical and financial capabilities of the new permit holder.
To migrate LSPEE or LIE permits to the LSE regime, among others, the total installed capacity of the power plant must be migrated, and the applicant must provide evidence showing that it is up to date in the compliance of its obligations under the permit.
The migration to the self-consumption scheme provided for under the LSE is also allowed.
Applications for permits or their migration, assignment, amendment, merger, and spin-off will be resolved by the CNE within a maximum period of 60 business days from receipt. The above, in the understanding that this term may be suspended if CNE issues a request for information.
It is worth noting that application will be subject to the General administrative provisions on binding planning in the activity of power generation (for further details on these provisions, see our client alert here).
Applicants are prevented from submitting additional information that modifies their application; in this case, the application must be withdrawn and a new filing must be submitted.
The CNE will determine the term of validity for each permit based on financial and technical aspects and the time period for amortization of investment costs, with the following maximum terms:
In view of the foregoing, it will be of particular relevance that applications to request permits or their amendments include detailed information on the business plan, so that the term of the permit that is requested is duly justified.
For additional information, please contact our expert team.
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