Changes within the renewable energy sector continue to set the pace for the regional market. This time, Operadores Nacionales has appointed Ignacio De Lucas as its new Commercial Director .
The company, an official distributor and partner of Huawei Digital Power, seeks to capitalize on a differentiating factor: the experience of an executive who worked his way through virtually the entire value chain of the energy business before moving to the technological solutions side.
With over 20 years in the sector, De Lucas has built a career spanning engineering, project construction, development, independent power generation, energy distribution, and business origination in multiple markets. This extensive experience is precisely the attribute that Operadores Nacionales now seeks to leverage as a competitive advantage.
“ I find it challenging. But without a doubt, having been on the other side of the field allows me to understand the need firsthand, to identify what the client is looking for and what they really need for a project to be viable, and thus be able to anticipate the requirements ,” the executive stated in an interview with Energía Estratégica .
From EPC, developer and IPP to technology provider
The career path of Ignacio De Lucas summarizes much of the evolution that the renewable energy industry has experienced in the last 15 years.
His career began in Spanish engineering companies, before moving to construction companies under the EPC model. He later participated in the transformation of one of these firms to the IPP (Independent Power Producer) model, where he transitioned to project development.
From there, he worked in markets such as Ecuador and Chile during the initial boom of the PMGs (Project Management Groups). He then began developing markets in Guatemala, as well as El Salvador and Honduras, in a period prior to the current renewable energy boom in Central America. Later, he moved to Panama to join Solarcentury, where he participated in regional business development and the deployment of solar assets.
Among the milestones of that journey is the participation in the first solar plant in Panama, Divisa Solar, in addition to the development of projects in Colombia and other regional markets.
Later, he broadened his profile from the utility side, leading ENSA Servicios—a subsidiary of the EPM Group in Panama—focused on unregulated energy services and technological solutions. He then moved to AES as regional business development director, focusing on renewables, gas, and new technologies in the Dominican Republic, Panama, and El Salvador. This is the path he now takes to Operadores Nacionales.
The goal: to take National Operators to the “next level”
From the executive's perspective, the expectation is to convert that cross-cutting market knowledge into commercial acceleration.
“ My personal goal is to take the company to the next level. To help the company continue to grow exponentially ,” De Lucas stated.
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“ Having that extensive knowledge of the sector, of the main players in each country, of the regulations, of how they work, is definitely a winning factor in achieving the objectives of National Operators ,” he added.
Beyond the executive transfer, the move offers a broader perspective on the current state of the sector. Technology companies are no longer just looking for traditional sales profiles: they demand professionals capable of understanding the complete logic of the energy business, from origination to operation, in an industry where simply selling equipment is no longer enough.
In this sense, the appointment comes at a time when the renewable energy sector is undergoing a structural transformation. While just a few years ago the competitive advantage lay in the provision of equipment, today the market demands much more comprehensive solutions.
For De Lucas, the renewable energy business can no longer be analyzed solely from the perspective of solar generation or inverter provision. The incorporation of energy storage and digital management platforms is redefining the business equation.
This diagnosis aligns with the strategy of Operadores Nacionales, a company founded in 2018 that consolidated its regional growth as a technology partner of Huawei Digital Power.
The company has been positioning itself in photovoltaic solutions, storage and advanced energy services for markets in Central America, the Caribbean, Venezuela and Guyana, where storage is beginning to gain prominence within new business models.
Among the recent success stories is the Don Jorge project in Guatemala, a 5 MW photovoltaic plant under a renewable distributed generation scheme developed with Huawei FusionSolar technology, which provides a concrete reference of the type of solutions that the market is beginning to demand.
Meanwhile, Operadores Nacionales highlights its accumulated experience in BESS projects in the region, a segment that is gaining importance as network flexibility and energy optimization become priorities.
It is precisely in this new context that De Lucas's appointment seeks to gain value. For the executive, joining Operadores Nacionales also represents an opportunity for professional growth.
“Seeing the sector from a point of view that I didn’t know until now” will allow him, he emphasized, to access “all the players” in the regional market and consolidate a global vision of how a business evolves where understanding what drives each decision is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage.