Patagonia has built its modern economy around resources, energy and large infrastructure projects. Now another industry is looking south, and it needs enormous amounts of the same thing: dependable power.
Technology companies and infrastructure investors are examining Argentina's southern provinces as potential locations for large data centers. Neuquen is drawing particular interest because it combines a cool climate with electricity, hydroelectric resources and the gas fields of Vaca Muerta.
Pampa Energia is studying a facility near its Loma de la Lata thermal power plant that could eventually consume as much as 500 megawatts. The company is discussing an initial 20 MW to 40 MW pilot with prospective customers before considering the larger buildout.
For a data center, location is an engineering calculation. The buildings need electricity around the clock, enough land to expand, communications links that can carry huge volumes of data and a reliable way to remove heat from thousands of servers. Patagonia can provide several of those ingredients at once.
Reuters reported that the electrical infrastructure needed for the larger Pampa project could cost nearly $900 million. Other proposals are also moving through early stages, including projects in Neuquen and Chubut that range from dozens of megawatts to several gigawatts of eventual capacity.
FlexDomes is examining a Neuquen project whose first stage would involve about 120 MW of IT load and around $1.4 billion in investment. In Chubut, Poland's Green Capital has described plans for a 300 MW first stage that could eventually reach 3,000 MW.
Most of the projects are still proposals. Investors also remain cautious about infrastructure and Argentina's political outlook as the country approaches its 2027 presidential election.
The Milei administration is trying to improve the investment case with tax incentives and regulatory changes aimed at long-term capital. A second fiber-optic cable landing station is also planned, which would strengthen Patagonia's connection to international networks.
If electricity generated from Vaca Muerta resources can support a digital-infrastructure industry, the region could capture value twice, first from energy production and then from the computing capacity that energy enables.
Provincial officials are therefore talking about an ecosystem rather than a single building. Once one major facility is operating, future investors can measure real power costs, connectivity, permitting conditions and performance instead of relying entirely on forecasts.
For now, Patagonia has a rare combination of energy, land and climate. What remains uncertain is whether power, fiber, financing and political stability can arrive at the same time. That is the test investors are trying to solve.
Source: Reuters, September 7, 2026.