The ongoing generation and storage tenders in Latin America are accelerating demand for inverters and batteries for large-scale projects. Operadores Nacionales anticipates that Guatemala will be one of the most active markets, following the awarding of 1,505 MW across 57 projects in the PEG-5 auction.
“We are experiencing a golden age for renewable energy throughout the region,” stated Ignacio de Lucas, commercial director of Operadores Nacionales , during an interview at the Future Energy Summit (FES) Guatemala , where he identified concrete opportunities in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Honduras, in addition to the growth recorded in other Latin American markets.
“The region is a market with really high demand. Therefore, I would definitely call it a historic opportunity to incorporate all these types of assets and to incorporate the technology that Huawei brings to each of the projects,” he added.
Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/5x7WHTmin5c
The company's commercial focus will be on utility-scale storage solutions and photovoltaic inverters from Huawei Digital Power, so the company is also preparing to launch a new large-scale battery solution in the coming months, which will be integrated into the technology portfolio along with Huawei's new 506 kW string inverter that is already available on the market.
Guatemala occupies a central place in this strategy. The PEG-5 tender awarded 1,505 MW , with an average price of $101.09 per MWh . Of the total, 1,102 MW correspond to clean energy sources , including 713 MW of solar with battery storage .
“ With this new bidding process, Guatemala is now positioning itself as a regional leader . Frankly, next year is definitely going to be the hot market because equipment acquisitions for all these types of projects will begin.”
“Guatemala has managed to create a suitable investment climate for all these energy investments to take place and for solar plants with batteries to be incorporated, which will be much more flexible and easier to integrate into the current system,” the executive added.
The process will not end with PEG-5. The country is preparing the PEG-6 auction, intended to incorporate nearly 300 MW of firm power, and the PET-4 call for bids, which will define new transmission works to accompany the commissioning of the awarded projects.
The opportunities are not limited to Guatemala. The Dominican Republic awarded 325.69 MW through the EDES-LP-NGR-01-2025 tender, below the 600 MW initially planned.
Four of the five contracted projects closed with values between $0.1060 and $0.1090 per kWh , the lowest recorded so far for this type of contract in the country.
The Dominican market is also preparing a call for bids for an additional 300 MW of clean generation and another exclusive tender to incorporate 200 MW of BESS systems in existing solar plants .
Panama also moved forward with the LPI ETESA 01-25 and LPI ETESA 01-26 tenders. The second awarded 22.6 million MWh , with average prices lower than the reference values.
Honduras, on the other hand, postponed its 1500 MW project until 2027. The country plans to move forward with the groundwork once Congress approves the reform related to the National Electric Energy Company.
What role will National Operators play? It will seek to participate in that growth through the distribution of Huawei Digital Power technology and a local support structure.
The strategy involves supporting developers from equipment selection to plant operation.
Lack of knowledge about large-scale batteries remains a major challenge. Many developers still lack close operational benchmarks that would allow them to accurately assess performance, degradation, safety, and maintenance requirements.
For this reason, customers are no longer just looking for a low price for the supply. They also demand engineering, installation support, commissioning, and technical assistance throughout the asset's lifespan.
“What they are asking us for is technical support and guidance throughout the entire project cycle, not simply a product sale as such,” the executive explained.
While the National Operators model aims to combine territorial presence and technological support: "It has a full local presence in each of the countries to support our clients together with our technology partner, Huawei."
Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/5x7WHTmin5c