Chile has already reached 2063 MW installed in battery storage systems , consolidating itself as the most advanced market in Latin America in BESS.
But behind this accelerated deployment lies a signal that the Caribbean is watching closely: years of renewable energy spillovers that at critical moments reached up to 50% . In fact, the Antofagasta and Atacama regions alone accounted for nearly 1100 GWh of renewable surpluses, a result of transmission bottlenecks —a segment whose projects can take between seven and ten years to develop, far behind the rate at which solar generation has grown.
The market's response was to accelerate energy storage. In addition to the GW already operational, Chile has another 2,124 MW (9,730 MWh) undergoing testing and 5,977 MW (25,895 MWh) under construction. This is further complemented by 16 GW with environmental approval and 12.6 GW in various stages of evaluation, mostly associated with hybrid solar projects. According to ACERA, by the end of 2025, BESS systems had already enabled a reduction of approximately 10% of the projected energy cuts.
In that context, Gonzalo Feito, director for Latin America at Sungrow, brought a central question to the Dominican Republic: should you design with flexibility from the beginning or correct it when the bottleneck is already in place?
“We must adapt to potential regulatory changes, as happened in Chile, where we have 4,000 MW in commercial operation that are now being required to implement black start or grid forming measures that were not in the initial design. I encourage you to start designing with that in mind; it's not an excessive cost, it's minimal, and it allows us to be prepared for regulatory changes, because stability is both a reality and a necessity,” he noted.
“We have seven years of experience in Chile, and our job is to transfer those lessons learned to avoid falling into the same traps in new markets. Technology changes year after year, so it’s time to learn,” he added.
This concern is echoed by signs already emerging in the Dominican Republic. According to estimates by electrical expert Augusto Bello, economic losses associated with the curtailment or dumping of renewable energy amounted to RD$1.824 billion between January and May of this year, a figure that could climb to RD$4.963 billion by year's end, equivalent to 578 GWh of unused energy. To put the acceleration of this phenomenon into perspective, these losses reached RD$1.4038 billion throughout last year.
Although the Dominican market is still far from the scale of Chile's, the data shows that the discussion about flexibility, storage, and system capacity is no longer a hypothetical scenario. The Dominican government itself has already begun to move in that direction, with a new tender aimed at incorporating storage into existing projects.
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Furthermore, the Dominican Republic's vice minister assured during FES Caribe that by 2026 they project the incorporation of "at least 138 MW, along with ongoing processes that will add no less than 500 MW additional in the short term ."
This progress, however, also necessitates a rethinking of how new projects are financially structured. In this regard, Feito asserted that batteries can represent between 80% and 85% of a project's total CAPEX, far exceeding the historical share held by investors, which hovers around just 5%.
This change also redefines the relationship between developers and manufacturers, since when storage becomes the "financial heart of the project", support ceases to be a differentiator and becomes an operational and financial requirement.
“We are responsible for ensuring the project's long-term success, and our philosophy is to be involved from the first day to the last day of its useful life. Furthermore, anyone considering a photovoltaic construction project today should already be considering BESS,” concluded the Sungrow representative, summarizing what he considered to be the main lesson learned from the Chilean experience.
Relive FES Caribe here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfB3DaSHJSM
FES's next stops
The Future Energy Summit tour will continue with FES Guatemala on May 14 and FES Mexico on May 19, where key players from the public and private sectors will address the challenges and opportunities linked to the expansion of the energy system, new investment schemes and the execution of strategic projects.
To access the full FES 2026 tour schedule, learn more about it and be part of the meetings, the FES digital platform is available, while all events will have a live broadcast through the official Future Energy Summit YouTube channel.
For inquiries and more information, please contact info@futurenergysummit.com