The Dominican Republic has moved beyond the stage where batteries were merely a future topic of discussion. The recent award of 325 MW in the tender that incorporated BESS systems marked a turning point for the local market, while the sector itself is already anticipating new opportunities to expand capacity. In this context, Huawei delivered a warning to FES Caribe that goes to the heart of the technical debate: having batteries does not automatically imply having grid resilience.
That was one of the central messages of Hancel Marte , FusionSolar Business Development Director at Huawei Digital Power , during the first day of the event, where he directly linked the evolution of the Dominican market with the need to think of BESS as a systemic support infrastructure and not just as installed capacity.
“When we saw what the government and regulatory bodies were requesting in those specifications, we understood that it wasn't just about requesting batteries, but rather about requesting what the system needs at this time,” Marte said.
The discussion gains more weight when considering the country's operational context. The Dominican Republic experienced two collapses of the National Interconnected Electric System (SENI) in the last year, episodes that once again raised questions about the stability, responsiveness, and robustness of the grid in the face of critical events.
Against that backdrop, Huawei introduced an international benchmark that serves as a warning to any market that aggressively advances in storage without precisely defining what services it expects from that infrastructure.
“We saw that countries like Chile were affected by incidents, even though they had storage capacity. What happened with the batteries? It was that they weren't essentially designed to provide that type of backup,” Marte stated.
The mention refers to the massive blackout recently experienced in Chile, an event that shook the regional electricity sector. Although subsequent analyses ruled out large solar power injections as the cause of the collapse, the event reignited a technical debate that is increasingly present in Latin America: having battery storage does not necessarily equate to having an effective capacity to respond to systemic contingencies.
That is precisely the message that Huawei sought to instill in the Caribbean.
For years, energy storage was primarily discussed in terms of its ability to support renewable energy growth, optimize assets, and manage generation and consumption curves. However, market evolution is beginning to shift that conversation to a different direction.
Marte argued that the deployment that is beginning to take shape in the Dominican Republic should be geared towards technologies capable of providing real support to network operations, especially in the face of instability events.
“What we are going to promote here are technologies that can support the system,” he stated.
Within that discussion, the executive also pointed to an opportunity that, in his view, is still not being sufficiently exploited by market players: frequency regulation.
Marte questioned the slowness with which some developers are evaluating these types of schemes, despite the fact that they allow for improved operational response of assets and, at the same time, open new sources of income through complementary services.
“I wonder why the decision by the agents to enter into frequency regulation has been so slow,” he said.
He explained that the use of batteries for primary and secondary regulation could help reduce operational restrictions that currently impact certain projects, while also allowing them to monetize their contribution to the system.
The conversation also extended to technologies such as grid-forming , which are increasingly present in markets with high renewable penetration and greater stability demands, and for Huawei, this is a natural evolution of the business.
“It’s a technology the circuit needs. It’s something that’s already on the market. Testing it is what’s needed now,” Marte emphasized.
The other storage discussion: who guarantees support in 15 years
Beyond the technological component, the executive introduced another sensitive issue for developers and investors: the permanence of the supplier.
With assets designed for long-term horizons, the discussion on BESS systems incorporates variables linked to technical support, maintenance and operational continuity, factors that directly impact the bankability of projects.
“Marrying a company that’s 15 to 30 years old has to be a very well-reasoned decision,” he warned.
Along those lines, Marte warned about the risk of selecting manufacturers without a consolidated structure in the local market, especially if that presence disappears over time and leaves assets without technical support.
Huawei sought to position itself on that point. The executive asserted that the company already has operational capacity deployed in the Dominican Republic, including more than 60 locally trained engineers for support and maintenance of energy solutions.
Marte also indicated that the company already has a stock of batteries to support the growth of the storage business in the country.
With the Dominican Republic accelerating its battery agenda and new regulatory discussions gaining prominence, the message left by FES Caribe is clear: the storage debate in the Caribbean is entering a much more demanding phase from a technical, operational, and financial standpoint.
Relive the first day of FES Caribe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfB3DaSHJSM