Latin America
Microgrid, BESS, and hybrid energy software for Latin America
From Brazil's ANEEL auction market and Chilean solar-plus-storage to Atacama copper mines and off-grid Peruvian mining operations. Latin America runs two fundamentally different energy stories — HOMER models both.
Two energy realities in Latin America
Latin America hosts some of the world's most competitive renewable energy auction markets and some of its most isolated and energy-intensive industrial operations. Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico have run auctions that produced solar and wind tariffs among the lowest recorded globally. At the same time, Chile's Atacama Desert, Peru's high-altitude mining zones, and Brazil's Carajás iron ore region operate remote industrial loads that would rank among the world's largest standalone microgrids.
These two threads — sophisticated grid market development and the mining-energy nexus — are not in tension. They are both HOMER use cases, and no other energy modelling platform speaks to both as specifically.
Utility-scale and grid-connected — HOMER Front and Grid
Brazil's ANEEL-regulated electricity market operates through the CCEE (Chamber for Commercialisation of Electric Energy), with A-4 and A-6 auctions setting long-term contract prices for renewable generation. The Regulated Contracting Environment (ACR) and the Free Contracting Environment (ACL) create different risk profiles that HOMER Front can model through scenario analysis. Brazil's distributed generation market — governed by Resolução 482/2012 and expanded by Lei 14.300/2022 — is among the world's fastest-growing, with residential, commercial, and rural GD now measured in gigawatts.
Chile's CNE-administered auction system (Ley 20.936) and the Comisión Nacional de Energía's PMGD (Pequeños Medios de Generación Distribuida) framework under Ley 21.118 have produced some of the world's cheapest large-scale solar. HOMER Front models Chilean BESS economics across the SIC and SING systems, incorporating CEN dispatch rules. Colombia's XM-operated market and the FNCER auction framework, Mexico's CRE-regulated market and CENACE dispatch, Argentina's RenovAr legacy contracts and Ley 27.424 distributed generation, and Peru's OSINERGMIN-supervised market are all modelled via HOMER's configurable tariff structures.
Mining and off-grid hybrid power — HOMER Pro
Latin America contains the world's highest concentration of remote, energy-intensive mining operations. Chile is the world's largest copper producer and second-largest lithium producer; its Atacama mine sites have some of the planet's best solar resources and some of its highest electricity costs. Peru's high-altitude copper and gold mines face diesel supply chain challenges that make hybrid power economically compelling. Brazil's Carajás iron ore complex in the Pará state represents one of the world's largest single-site industrial loads.
The mining decarbonisation commitments of BHP, Codelco, Anglo American, Vale, and Antofagasta are driving a structural shift from diesel-only to hybrid power across LATAM mine sites. HOMER Pro models the full diesel displacement economics — including fuel price risk, logistics costs, and battery lifecycle over the mining operation's production timeline. Water-energy nexus modelling — desalination for Atacama operations, hydroelectric risk management for Peruvian mines — is handled through HOMER's multi-component simulation framework.
Mine site BESS for frequency response and ancillary services, lithium triangle project development economics, and the integration of mine site generation assets into regional grids as mines mature are all active HOMER use cases in the region.
Mining in Latin America — detailed guideDistributed and behind-the-meter — HOMER Grid
Brazil's GD market — governed by ANEEL Resolução 482 and expanded by Lei 14.300 — is the region's largest distributed solar market, with urban commercial systems, rural agri-solar, and shared generation models all growing rapidly. Chile's PMGD economics — where plants below 9 MW connect under a simplified regime with stabilised tariffs — create a well-defined behind-the-meter opportunity for C&I operators. Colombia's Resolución CREG 030 governs self-generation, and Mexico's C&I self-supply market under CRE rules is a significant growth area.
EV charging infrastructure under LATAM's emerging fleet electrification mandates — Brazil's PROCONVE and Chile's 2035 ICE ban — creates new load shapes in C&I and commercial building portfolios. High industrial tariffs across the region make demand charge reduction one of HOMER Grid's most compelling value propositions.
Latin America country pages
Selected Latin America projects
Distributed solar agri-business portfolio
A Brazilian EPC used HOMER Grid to model a portfolio of 14 rural distributed generation systems under ANEEL Resolução 482, across soya and sugarcane operations in Mato Grosso. Net metering economics confirmed an average 8-year payback across the portfolio.
Solar-plus-storage PMGD, Atacama Region
A developer modelled a 7 MW solar-plus-BESS asset in the Atacama Region under Chile's PMGD stabilised tariff framework. HOMER Front identified the optimal storage ratio and dispatch strategy for maximum tariff capture, confirming a 12-year project IRR above 9%.
Diesel displacement at 4,200 m elevation
A Peruvian mining consultancy used HOMER Pro to evaluate solar-wind-BESS-diesel hybrid options for a copper mine operating at 4,200 m altitude. The HOMER model, incorporating altitude-derated diesel engine performance, showed diesel displacement of 52% with a 6.5-year payback.
Hurricane-resilient island microgrid
HOMER Pro was used to design a hurricane-resilient solar-BESS microgrid for a 3,000-inhabitant Caribbean island. The model incorporated post-storm load profiles and tested system survival under generator failure scenarios, meeting USAID resilience requirements.
Ready to model your Latin American project?
Whether you're working on a utility-scale auction in Brazil, a mining hybrid system in Chile, or off-grid operations in Peru, HOMER gives you the techno-economic analysis to make confident decisions.