Unlocking investment opportunities in Latin America’s energy transition

Policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean have major opportunities to expand energy investment, especially due to the region's vast renewable resources. Northern Chile and Western Argentina have high-quality solar radiation, while the "Southern Cone"3 and Northern Colombia offer highly productive wind corridors. Brazil has well-established bioenergy and sustainable fuel industries, along with most of the continent's installed capacity in distributed solar, utility-scale solar and wind generation. Capacity across these categories is also expanding in Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay. In the Caribbean, countries are exploring solar, storage and hybrid projects to reduce fossil fuel dependence and increase energy security. These are very much in line with the ambitious targets adopted in the region: Barbados seeks to establish a 100% renewable power mix by 2035, and Antigua and Barbuda aims to source one-third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. And many other countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia and Dominica, have policies in place to support significant decarbonisation efforts in the coming decade.

For the moment, the region receives only 5% of global private investment in clean energy, compared with 8% of private sector spending on fossil fuels. There are, however, multiple examples from across LAC that show how a clear vision for energy transitions and a willingness to engage with the private sector can produce results.

Across two auctions in 2024, Brazil raised nearly USD 4 billion to build almost 7 300 kilometres (km) of new transmission lines. In October 2025, another auction was successfully held for the construction and operation of more than 1 000 km of new lines. These investments, which aim to strengthen the grid, integrate more renewable energy and improve system reliability, show how competitive auctions can attract private capital for major infrastructure projects.

In Argentina, the first large-scale auction (AlmaGBA) for a battery energy storage system (BESS) targeted the installation of 500 megawatts (MW) of capacity in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area. The market responded strongly, with over 1 300 MW in bids and a final allocation of around 660 MW. The programme focused on congested areas and enabled greater renewable integration.

In Honduras, energy storage is being used to stabilise the electricity system in regions where renewable expansion is limited by transmission capacity and variability, showing that flexibility solutions are spreading across the region beyond large electricity markets. The National Electricity Company (ENEE) launched an international tender in 2025 to contract 1 500 MW of firm capacity to secure electricity supply through 2030. At least 65% of capacity must come from renewables with storage under a multi-round reverse auction and a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme with contracts of about 15 years.

This year, the Dominican Republic, through its National Energy Commission (CNE) and the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (EGEHID), also launched an international tender for up to 600 MW of new renewable capacity with mandatory storage, with the aim of diversifying the country's energy mix, reducing fossil fuel dependence and achieving 30% renewable generation by 2030 under long-term power purchase agreements spanning from 15 to 20 years.

In Chile, a strong regulatory framework is in place that encourages battery integration and transmission improvements as renewable penetration grows.

Overall, these initiatives show that countries across the region are actively fostering conditions for further growth in energy investment, particularly amid their shift toward more resilient, flexible and renewable energy-focused power systems.