Hyperscalers Court Argentine Patagonia for AI Data Centers

In Argentina's Patagonia, developers are lining up wind and gas and cold air, and hoping the hyperscalers come with them. Reuters reports that projects across the southern provinces are being pitched to AI operators, with initial agreements targeted by year's end and site tours pencilled in for February.

The anchor is OpenAI's October letter of intent with Sur Energy for a facility of up to 500MW, announced by President Javier Milei alongside a video appearance from Sam Altman. Expected investment is around $25 billion, with a first 100MW phase due in 2027; it is the Latin American entry in the Stargate programme alongside sites in Norway, the UK and the UAE. That programme sits inside a broader buildout, with more than 450 AI infrastructure stories in our tracker over the last 90 days.

Around that anchor, smaller bets. Major generator Pampa Energia is pushing a data center next to its Loma de la Lata thermal plant in Neuquén, sized at up to 500MW, with electric infrastructure alone costing almost $900 million. "We started to detect there was interest that was a bit firmer," Pampa's Turienzo said, though investors first want a pilot of 20MW to 40MW before scaling. FlexDomes is soliciting a 120MW first phase in Neuquén at $1.4 billion. Poland's Green Capital has outlined a $3 billion first stage in Chubut targeting 300MW, with ambitions to reach 3,000MW; it is leasing roughly 1,300 square kilometres south of Trelew for the wind and solar farms to feed it, still needs investors, and plans to apply for the country's investment regime in 2027.

Neuquén's pitch is climate and fuel: cold air to cut cooling costs, hydro power on one side, Vaca Muerta shale gas on the other. "What we envision is a data center cluster or ecosystem, where once the first facility is established it'll dispel preconceptions and risks," said Ruben Etcheverry, secretary of the province's development council.

The catch is the grid. The region still needs major upgrades to power and network connectivity before any of this runs, and Mapuche Indigenous families live in the rural area around the sites and have historically clashed with energy companies.