Latin America’s installed energy storage capacity is set to rise from 2.5 GW in 2025 to 34 GW by 2035, according to Wood Mackenzie’s Latin America energy storage outlook 2026, reported by pv magazine México on 28 August. That is a 13.6-fold increase over ten years at a compound annual growth rate of 30%. It is also a steep upward revision: the consultancy’s September 2025 outlook had projected only 23 GW by 2034 at 8% annual growth.
Wood Mackenzie identifies three drivers behind the new forecast: government tenders, rising curtailment of renewable generation, and the limits of transmission networks that cannot carry all the solar and wind output now coming online. Analyst Pamela Morales said the region “is no longer a frontier market for energy storage”, but warned that project pipelines are growing faster than the rules to pay for them, and that deployment stalls wherever comprehensive regulatory frameworks with clear remuneration mechanisms are missing.
Brazil is the near-term focus. The country’s first two capacity reserve auctions for batteries are scheduled for 2 and 4 December 2026, with a minimum project size of 30 MW, a four-hour duration requirement and 15-year contracts under which supply begins on 1 August 2028. Chile remains the regional leader with the largest operational battery projects in Latin America, although Wood Mackenzie flags a growing risk of price cannibalisation in the north of the country as battery capacity there increases. Argentina has recently awarded around 1.3 GW of storage through its AlmaGBA (713 MW) and AlmaSADI (700.5 MW) processes.
Mexico could see more than 3 GW of awards by 2030 through new procurement mechanisms and joint development schemes with state utility CFE. Its strategic projects reference 935 MW of standalone storage, all with three-hour duration, and a new requirement obliges renewable projects to include storage equivalent to 30% of their capacity. The Dominican Republic has set a 500 MW storage target for 2030 and now requires new renewable projects of 20 MWac or more to add storage equal to 50% of capacity with a minimum four-hour duration.
Why does this matter?
A forecast that has jumped from 23 GW to 34 GW in under a year signals that Latin American storage has moved from pilot projects to procurement at scale. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and the Dominican Republic are all now using auctions or mandates, creating bankable demand for battery suppliers, EPC contractors and lenders.
What happens next?
The Brazilian auctions on 2 and 4 December will be the first real test of the forecast, followed by the Mexican awards expected before 2030. Wood Mackenzie’s warning about remuneration frameworks means regulators in Chile, Colombia and Peru will be watched for rules that let batteries earn revenue from multiple services rather than a single contract.