Batteries: LatAm jumps from 2.5 GW to 34 GW by 2035
LatAm will go from 2.5 GW to 34 GW of storage by 2035, driven by auctions and with China dominating the global battery chain, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Global battery deployment surpassed 1.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, nearly ten times the 2020 total, and China concentrated most of that manufacturing, according to an analysis by Canary Media citing data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Price followed volume: lithium batteries were 93% cheaper in 2025 than in 2010 and 36% cheaper than in 2020, according to the same publication. Grid storage is the segment that is accelerating, with annual deployments growing nearly 19 times between 2020 and 2025 and a BloombergNEF projection that it will double by the end of the decade. In Latin America, Wood Mackenzie raised its forecast for cumulative capacity from 2.5 GW in 2025 to 34 GW in 2035, a 13-fold increase at a compound annual rate of 30%, in its Latin America Energy Storage Outlook 2026 report, published on August 27, 2026.
For Mexico, that report identifies a turning point: the first call for priority proposals and the joint development call with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), both with mandatory storage, envisage awards above 3 GW by 2030. Brazil is preparing an auction dedicated to batteries in December 2026, with additions starting in 2028, and Argentina has already awarded 1.3 GW in standalone rounds, with operation expected in 2027 to support transmission. Chile maintains regional leadership with the largest battery energy storage systems (BESS) in operation, although the report notes that price cannibalization on its northern grid erodes arbitrage revenues.
The main obstacle Wood Mackenzie documents is the absence of bankable revenue models: most markets do not define remuneration for ancillary services or energy arbitrage. According to Canary Media, the United States and the European Union are seeking to expand their local manufacturing, with incentives in place for grid storage in the US case, without yet matching the price of Chinese production.
Pamela Morales, of Wood Mackenzie, described the region as an active market rather than a frontier one. The next signals lie in two dates: the Brazilian auction in December 2026 and the Mexican awards with CFE, which the report places above 3 GW by 2030.
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.
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This article was drafted with AI assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.