CATL aims to capitalize on the BESS boom in Latin America, turning it into a market leader. In a landscape marked by new tenders in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Mexico , the company seeks to capture more than half the market share in the countries where it competes.
The definition was made by Ricardo Garro , Commercial Director for Latin America at CATL , during FES Caribe, where he highlighted the current situation in the region and the growing demand for solutions capable of providing flexibility to increasingly renewable electrical systems.
“We want to have the largest market share in all the countries we enter, aiming for shares of 50% or more,” Garro stated.
The goal is supported by the company's global position. CATL controls more than 30% of the global storage market and maintains a manufacturing capacity exceeding 700 GW , in addition to another 300 GW under construction. According to the executive, this scale has allowed it to become one of the main drivers of the industry in recent years.
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“CATL’s cells form the basis on which the storage industry has developed,” he said.
The projected growth for Latin America explains a large part of that strategy. Garro observed an acceleration of competitive projects and processes in various countries, driven both by the need to integrate renewables and by the search for greater operational stability.
“Right now, Latin America is exploding with many opportunities, with tenders in multiple countries,” he said.
One of the most visible examples is Mexico , where the Ministry of Energy has launched new calls for proposals for renewable energy projects and battery storage systems. New power plants will be required to incorporate batteries equivalent to 30% of their installed capacity with a minimum runtime of three hours, and the country has just approved a specific regulatory framework for battery storage and energy efficiency systems (BESS). This is in addition to a portfolio of more than 4.5 GW of renewable energy and storage projects currently under development.
In the Dominican Republic , the sector is also undergoing a period of expansion. The recent EDES-LP-NGR-01-2025 tender awarded 325.69 MW of renewable capacity with batteries and confirmed developers' interest in this segment. At the same time, the government plans to add 2,000 MW of battery storage and energy efficiency (BSES) by 2036-2037 and is considering new tenders to strengthen grid flexibility.
This trend is also reaching Guatemala , where the PEG-5 tender will award 1258 MW , with a strong focus on battery-backed renewable energy projects. Of the total committed, 73% corresponds to clean technologies, and a significant portion is associated with BESS systems, while authorities are already working on a future PEG-6 tender to add new capacity.
In more mature markets, such as Chile , the debate is shifting from simply incorporating batteries to optimizing projects. Accumulated experience shows that battery energy storage systems (BESS) must be considered from the design stage to avoid operational constraints, congestion, or additional costs later on. This lesson is beginning to be heeded by countries currently undergoing a phase of rapid expansion, which will need to support renewable energy growth with increasingly sophisticated solutions.
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To meet that demand, CATL is driving a new generation of storage solutions based on 565 Ah fourth-generation cells, integrated into 5.64 MWh, 6 MWh and 9 MWh platforms in a 20-foot format.
“Now we have fourth-generation 565 Ah cells, a new technology with zero degradation for one year,” Garro explained.
The new developments aim to improve both energy density and the logistics of transport and installation. According to the executive, the higher-capacity formats allow for cost optimization and simplify the implementation of utility-scale projects.
“It is proving very interesting to integrate it into the new formats we are working with, with products of 5.64, 6 and 9 MWh in a 20-foot format,” he noted.
The company's strategy also aims to integrate more components into a single solution. In addition to the battery pack, CATL incorporates PCS and EMS, offering performance guarantees all the way to the point of connection.
“Not only our DC battery, but we also integrate the PCS, the EMS and provide guarantees up to the point of connection of the performance,” he indicated.
This approach addresses one of the main concerns of project developers, related to the ability to ensure long-term returns.
“The need and concern of the customers is that this performance be guaranteed for 20 years,” he said.
Another announcement from FES Caribe concerned sodium batteries, a technology that is gaining traction within CATL's strategy. The company is already producing them commercially for electric vehicles and is exploring their initial applications in stationary energy storage, particularly for data centers, a segment with ever-increasing demands for backup power.
“One of the initial applications we are seeing for some Energy Storage projects is focused on data center projects,” he explained.
Although there is no specific commercial launch for this market yet, Garro anticipated that new products could arrive in the short term.
“We will be hearing about these new developments very soon,” he concluded.