Five years ago, during the pandemic, battery prices hovered around USD 400/kWh and containers offered capacities close to 2 MWh . Currently, Sungrow has equipment up to 7.2 MWh in similar dimensions , an evolution that accompanied the decrease in storage costs and the incorporation of new revenue streams for projects.
The comparison arose during an interview with Luis Fernando Biagini, Head of Sales Southern Cone of Sungrow , with Strategic Energy , in the streaming " See you at FES" , in the lead-up to Future Energy Summit Chile, scheduled for October 28 and 29 in Santiago .
The executive explained that, following the COVID-19 crisis, trade reference prices gradually fell to USD 300, USD 200, and USD 100/kWh. During that period, lithium price fluctuations forced manufacturers and buyers to incorporate contractual mechanisms to distribute the risks associated with commodity prices.
“Today I believe the market is much more mature. Companies already know what the risk is, they know how to manage that risk, and they know how to make a forecast for the coming years,” he said, while also avoiding committing to a specific price prediction for 2027.
In parallel, Sungrow achieved 7.2 GWh of operational capacity under long-term service agreements (LTSAs) , which can be extended for up to twenty years. This volume, corresponding to facilities covered by service contracts, constituted a different indicator of the company's accumulated commercial backlog.
The geographical distribution of the contracts showed different stages of development.
After Chile , Colombia positioned itself among Sungrow's main markets, followed by Central America and the Dominican Republic .
And Mexico? Biagini noted that the country has begun to open up commercial opportunities linked to new energy tenders, although it has not yet been part of the contracted volume presented by the company.
Chile as a reference point and the next steps for Argentina and Peru
The Chilean market featured prominently in the discussion due to the development of renewable energy facilities that have begun incorporating batteries to modify their energy delivery schedules. In particular, solar parks without PPAs have found in storage an alternative to the reduced prices during peak photovoltaic generation hours.
In these projects, investments in retrofit or repowering made it possible to take advantage of existing infrastructure and evaluate new revenues through arbitrage, although their viability depended on additional CAPEX and the hourly price differential.
“I always say that Chile is the laboratory of Latin America,” the executive stated, referring to the experience that other countries began to observe in order to adapt their own storage solutions.
Here, the comparison led the conversation to Argentina , where the government awarded two storage tenders aimed at strengthening the reliability of the electricity system.
The first, AlmaGBA , allocated 667 MW in 2025 to install batteries at critical nodes in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. The second, Alma-SADI , expanded the deployment to the interior of the country and awarded 700.5 MW in July 2026 , distributed across 20 projects in seven regions.
This latest call for bids received more than 8,300 MW in offers , compared to the 700 MW initially tendered, while the awarded projects included an estimated investment of USD 700 million.
In that scenario, the Head of Sales Southern Cone Sungrow identified opportunities for independent power producers, although he noted that Argentine facilities were still smaller than those typically found in Chile.
“It is a market where there is no turning back,” he said, assessing the opportunities for independent power producers and the potential of capacity contracts.
In Peru , Sungrow already has 1.2 GW of installed and operational photovoltaic capacity , while new hybrid configurations are beginning to emerge. Biagini revealed that the company was quoting solar projects that incorporate storage systems equivalent to between 30% and 40% of the photovoltaic power .
The percentage, he clarified, came from specific commercial transactions and not from general estimates of the sector.
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Regional differences were also reflected in the scale of the installations. While 600 MWh projects were already part of Sungrow's regular activity in more developed markets , it stated that reaching those dimensions would represent a significant step forward for Argentina and Peru.
Negotiations lasting up to four years and contracts closed in one month
The expansion of energy storage also introduced new variables into financial models. Arbitrage, based on shifting energy from periods of low prices to periods of higher value, was for years the main economic benchmark for evaluating investments.
The interviewee recalled that spreads close to USD 80 were previously considered an attractive benchmark for these operations. During the conversation, he estimated that those spreads were now around USD 65-70 , although he did not specify a market or time frame for comparison.
This business began to expand to include ancillary services, power remuneration, peak shaving, and grid forming and black start capabilities . The ability to combine these revenue streams became relevant for projects seeking to recoup their investment over operational horizons of approximately twenty years.
“I think they are not yet 100% guaranteed, but they are adding up point by point,” he said regarding the additional compensation that developers have begun to incorporate into their evaluations.
Peak shaving , for example, allowed industrial consumers to reduce their peak electricity demand and the associated power charges. In Chile, Biagini identified mining companies as potential users of these solutions, due to their high energy requirements and tariff structures.
However, the availability of these mechanisms depended on the regulatory conditions of each country , which maintained differences between markets even when the equipment could offer similar performance.
The conversation then shifted from revenue models to a less visible aspect of the business: the process that projects went through before becoming supply contracts.
Sungrow was involved from the earliest stages of development, contributing preliminary designs, equipment configurations, and basic engineering. Projects could then be handed off to independent manufacturers, engineering firms, and EPC contractors, each with their own technical and commercial assessments.
The increase in available manufacturers led buyers to request multiple bids before compiling a shortlist . According to a Sungrow spokesperson, the selection process could take between six and eight months , involving investment committees, technical advisors, and financial institutions.
“I have been involved in projects for about four years that have not yet materialized,” the executive acknowledged.
In contrast, he recalled a transaction that was completed in less than a month, from initial contact to contract signing. In that case, the coordination between lawyers, technical specialists, and sales managers allowed them to finalize the supply terms in an exceptionally short time.
The difference between the two experiences sparked a conversation about the pressure faced by those negotiating contracts of this magnitude. Biagini, an electronics engineer by training , had begun his career developing technical solutions before moving into commercial responsibilities, where he discovered that results depended on variables he couldn't always control.
BESS business, tennis courts and Neapolitan pizza
Outside of work, Biagini found in tennis an activity he began practicing around the age of forty, even though his teacher had initially advised against taking up the sport due to his age. Far from giving up, he decided to take lessons and turned the courts into a space to disconnect from the demands of work.
"How do you handle the pressure of a deal that can take months and whose closing is never guaranteed? " asked Gastón Fenés, CEO of Energía Estratégica and host of the streaming series.
“There are times when you think everything is great, then something happens the next moment and it’s not okay anymore,” she replied, who also resorted to meditation to manage anxiety.
And he reflected: “There are things you can’t handle. They’re not under your control.”
The conversation also touched on another of his passions. The son of an Italian father and a Brazilian mother, he explained that he usually takes charge of the cooking on weekends and has developed a particular fondness for Neapolitan pizza . He even bought an oven capable of reaching 500 degrees Celsius and began experimenting with doughs that require 48 hours of preparation and have a 75% hydration level.
“I’m an engineer and I love it because it’s pure technique, pure math, physics,” he said, laughing.
Amid personal anecdotes and details of his professional agenda, the executive also previewed the new features Sungrow has prepared for its upcoming Summit in Santiago, Chile on October 22 , where it will present a new investor identified as 510 and incorporate a panel specifically dedicated to bank financing.