HiTHIUM aims to supply more than 33% of the capacity awarded in Brazil's first battery energy storage (BESS) auction. To achieve this goal, the company has been working for over a year with local integration partners to adapt its offering to the Brazilian market's local content requirements.
The move comes amid increasing competition, with 6,091 registered projects totaling 296,807 MW of interest , according to data from the Energy Research Company (EPE). While this volume does not represent the capacity that will ultimately be contracted, it demonstrates the magnitude of the potential supply compared to the initial tenders.
“Brazil presents a different challenge because local content is key in the first auction in December. We have been working with local integration partners for over a year, and our goal is to capture more than a third (33%) of the capacity auctioned in Brazil,” stated Alejandro Nahuel Angeli, Senior Manager of Business Development Latam at HiTHIUM , during an interview on the “It Had to Be Said and It Was Said” streaming program on Energía Estratégica.
The company's business strategy involves combining its manufacturing capacity in China with the participation of Brazilian actors in the integration of the systems, an aspect that becomes relevant given the regulatory conditions foreseen for the contracting of storage.
In particular, Brazil is moving forward with two different modalities: LRCAP 2026 - Armazenamento Nacional , aimed at projects with equipment that meets the national content requirements, and LRCAP 2026 - Armazenamento , intended to contract new capacity under the remaining established conditions.
Both mechanisms are part of the guidelines promoted by the Ministry of Mines and Energy to strengthen the reliability of the National Interconnected System and promote the development of a production chain linked to storage.
In this scenario, the participation of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) in the accreditation of equipment also introduces a variable for manufacturers, due to the conditions of access to incentives associated with local production.
Therefore, agreements with national integrators are a central component of HiTHIUM's preparation. However, the company has not yet specified which specific processes will be carried out in Brazil or what percentage of local content its solutions will have.
The combination of projected demand, contracting conditions, and industrial requirements creates the scenario in which the company aims to achieve a market share of more than one-third of the tendered market.
In-house manufacturing and new demands from China: HiTHIUM's industrial backing
Beyond its Brazilian alliances, the company identifies its own manufacturing capabilities as a differentiator compared to other suppliers, especially in a context where China is pushing for stricter quality standards for storage technologies .
“HiTHIUM is the second largest storage manufacturer in the world. In Chile, we have already sold more than 6 GWh. We project double- and even triple-digit growth in the region over the next five years,” Angeli stated.
According to the regional representative, one of the main competitive differences within the sector lies in the ability to produce the cells directly, instead of relying exclusively on external suppliers to integrate the systems.
“There are few cell factories in the world, most of them in China. Some only make cells, others make the DC container, and integrators buy cells or modules to assemble the solution with PCS (inverters) and EMS/BMS,” the executive explained.
The value chain encompasses everything from the manufacture of electrochemical cells to their integration into direct current containers, power conversion systems, and battery and energy management platforms.
In this scheme, the ability to control different stages of production represents one of the industrial arguments with which HiTHIUM seeks to compete in Latin American tenders .
“We cover the entire chain: we manufacture the cell, the DC container, and offer integrated AC solutions,” Angeli emphasized.
This vertical integration is gaining greater relevance in the face of the tightening of technological requirements in China, which, according to the executive, could modify the conditions of competition between manufacturers and integrators.
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“The Chinese government is setting higher quality standards for BESS technologies. This will raise the global bar and filter out smaller integrators without their own cell manufacturing or long-term support capabilities,” the executive warned.
From the company's perspective, the new standards could favor suppliers with their own manufacturing capabilities and the ability to guarantee technical support throughout the life of the projects , while smaller-scale integrators would face greater demands.
This process constitutes a second component of their strategy in Brazil, where the conditions for local content must be aligned with the quality, security and technical support requirements demanded by developers.
However, the executive does not identify specific Chinese regulations or an implementation timeline, so the scope of these changes on international competition remains subject to their implementation.
After-sales service and warranties: the factors that HiTHIUM considers decisive for the BESS
The manufacturer also places after-sales service among the main elements of competitiveness for large-scale storage projects, especially due to the operation and maintenance requirements of this technology.
In that sense, Angeli agrees with the importance of having technical services and guarantees for periods of between 15 and 25 years .
“The company focuses exclusively on the Utility-Scale market,” the executive remarked, describing the company’s business orientation towards large-capacity storage facilities.
This specialization responds to the operational particularities of battery systems, which present differences compared to other renewable generation technologies.
“Unlike solar power (where 80% of the time is preventive maintenance and 20% corrective maintenance), in BESS corrective maintenance represents between 30% and 40% of the operating time,” Angeli noted.
According to this estimate, corrective interventions acquire considerable weight within operational tasks, which increases the importance of having specialized personnel, spare parts and the capacity to respond to possible failures.
“That’s why after-sales service, having LTSA (Long-Term Service Agreement) contracts, local response times (boots on ground) and clear polynomials of availability, RT and capacity are key to the bankability of the project,” Angeli explains.
Among the indicators mentioned are the availability of the systems, round-trip efficiency and committed storage capacity, variables that affect the technical and financial evaluation of the projects.
In parallel, HiTHIUM plans to open a regional training center near Santiago, Chile , to train and certify technical personnel in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. This initiative aims to expand the availability of professionals specializing in operation and maintenance, supporting the growth of BESS systems in Latin American markets.
“Chile is the pioneering market: it has 3.1 GW in operation, 2.2 GW in testing, more than 5.3 GW under construction and more than 18 GW approved,” the executive explains.
Chilean development also exposes the difficulties associated with integrating large volumes of renewable generation and the infrastructure limitations for transporting electricity to consumption centers.
“As we learned in Chile, having a lot of generation in the Atacama Desert is great, but the big challenge for everyone in the region is the transmission to transport that energy,” the executive noted.
For HiTHIUM, Brazil represents an expansion opportunity that combines in-house cell manufacturing, national integration alliances, and long-term technical support .
The company aims to transfer its regional experience to a market that projects more than 7 GW of storage for the next decade , and where compliance with local requirements will be one of the factors that will define the participation of suppliers.
By Matías Medinilla
By Emilia Lardizabal
