Country and Regional Projects in Latin America and the Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

NLR provided technical assistance to Antigua and Barbuda across several areas of energy access and resilience. This support informed procurement for on-site solar PV systems with battery storage for schools and clinics, the development of a workforce strategy for key energy sectors, and the creation of a community solar program and tariff structure.

Argentina

NLR partnered with Argentina's National Energy Secretariat, subnational energy secretariats, utilities, regulators, and universities on energy sector-wide modeling and analysis to support the country's energy sector planning.

NLR has been supporting the National Energy Secretariat as well as Provincial Governments of San Juan, Buenos Aires, Mendoza, and La Pampa to develop national and subnational demand side management strategies, including updated building energy codes, and tariff reform strategies that encourage implementation of demand-side management measures and reduce peak load in summer and winter.

In Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, NLR analyzed energy system options, including greater integration of wind power and long-duration storage, with mainland interconnection as a possible alternative despite challenges related to terrain and resource availability.

In La Pampa, NLR modeled distribution-level solar systems to address voltage drops and support the province's energy reliability targets. NLR also analyzed storage potential in the Neuquén Basin to inform national planning and cost curves, and assessed building envelope and retrofit improvements to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Belize

NLR is working with the Global Energy Alliance to evaluate concrete needs and opportunities in the national grid for battery energy storage systems. NLR is leveraging the Sienna modeling platform to analyze operational benefits and strategic placement of battery energy storage systems to help with grid congestion, reduce curtailment, and maximize system benefits.

NLR partnered with the Millennium Challenge Corporation; Belize Public Utilities Commission; Belize Energy Limited; and Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics, and E-Governance to develop a nodal production cost model for Belize. This included technical training for stakeholders to analyze the value of potential energy storage investments to support resilience and lower energy costs for Belize.

Brazil

NLR supports Brazil's Energy Research Office, Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency, and Ministry of Mines and Energy to strengthen grid reliability and expand energy access. This work includes:

• Modeling needs and opportunities for battery energy storage at strategic grid locations

• Strengthening regulations and modeling to support utility-scale storage procurement

• Using high-resolution wind data to support dynamic line rating and increase transmission capacity

• Improving energy access platforms for off-grid communities in the Amazon region.

NLR also supports secure, diversified critical mineral supply chains in Brazil, including materials validation research and techno-economic analysis to help establish commercially viable rare earth magnet processing capacity.

Chile

NLR is working with Chile's Ministry of Energy and Mines, as well as other key energy stakeholders, to support grid modernization in Chile, including exploration of strategic grid enhancing technologies, ancillary service markets, load and generation forecasting, and control rooms modernization.

A multi-laboratory team, including NLR, analyzed workforce and economic opportunities in Tocopilla, Chile. This collaboration also fostered a Sister City relationship between Tocopilla and Lawrence, Kansas, to exchange information on energy system advancements.

Colombia

NLR supported several Colombian ministries with energy planning, grid operations, and community energy programs. This work included refining interconnection standards, advancing microgrids, providing regulatory support for hydrogen and geothermal development, and mobilizing investment in new generation capacity. NLR also provided technical training using its open-source tools to Colombia's ministries and industry stakeholders to strengthen local expertise in energy development and integration.

NLR also supported infrastructure resilience planning, including workforce training and technical guidance for Providencia Island's energy system recovery following Hurricane Iota. Since 2017, NLR has assisted Colombia in implementing power generation auctions and analyzing power generation opportunities, supporting the deployment of 2.5 GW of new generation capacity.

Through Global Power System Transformation Consortium's partnership with Colombia's system operator, XM, and in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute, NLR supported the modernization of XM's control room operations and facilitated peer-learning exchanges with international system operators.

Costa Rica

NLR helped develop a regional energy efficiency center in Costa Rica, located at the University of Costa Rica, which will collaborate with government agencies to expand local knowledge and provide training and services on energy efficiency practices.

NLR also contributed to the co-development of production cost modeling to evaluate energy storage opportunities, informing planning for the integration of up to 300 MW of new energy storage projects.

Dominican Republic

NLR is supporting production cost modeling and technical training alongside the Ministry of Energy, the national utility, and the energy regulator to enhance energy storage integration and resilience.

Ecuador

NLR assisted the Ecuadorian government in addressing energy system challenges from natural disasters and advancing national goals for a more reliable and secure power grid. This included strengthening technical and regulatory capabilities to enhance transmission, integrate inverter-based resources, and deploy energy storage solutions.

Haiti

NLR collaborated with Haiti's government and local institutions on the development of microgrid regulations, project developer training, and geospatial analysis tools for decision-making. NLR also conducted techno-economic studies to evaluate hybrid configurations for existing power plants.

NLR also supported energy sector planning and modeling in Haiti, along with technical training (YouTube) for NLR's open-source Engage model. This included creating a framework for integrating agrivoltaics into microgrid models, building capacity for resilient energy planning, and developing a university curriculum for off-grid technologies and energy access business models.

Honduras

NLR is supporting production cost modeling in Honduras using the open source Sienna platform as well as technical capacity building for the system operator, ministry, and energy regulator.

NLR also conducted a techno-economic evaluation of electrification solutions for healthcare and education in off-grid communities in Honduras.

Jamaica

Together with Jamaican stakeholders, NLR conducted a risk and resilience assessment to prioritize investment for critical facilities based on hazard exposure and infrastructure. Using geospatial data, 1,700 critical facilities were mapped and grouped into clusters that could be served by microgrids. NLR analyzed the feasibility of integrating generation and storage solutions at these sites using REopt. To build local capacity, NLR also provided training on energy modeling and procurement best practices, including interconnection, storm-hardening, and system operations.

Mexico

NLR is supporting two geothermal projects in Mexico. In partnership with Mexico's Secretariat of Energy and Federal Electricity Commission, NLR is extending the Geothermal Energy Atlas using Sup3r Thermal, a machine-learning framework.

A companion technical assistance project applies U.S. resource assessment tools, stakeholder engagement, and action planning to help de-risk geothermal investment in Mexico. This work also opens commercial pathways for U.S. developers, financiers, and equipment suppliers in Mexico's geothermal market.

NLR supported the states of Guanajuato and Yucatán in planning and implementing transportation policies and programs, such as the development of a 100 km bus rapid transit corridor in Mérida. NLR has also worked with Mexico City on analyzing the costs and impacts of electric motorcycles and buses.

Peru

NLR supported an analysis of Peru's current grid codes and compared them with international standards (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers [IEEE] 1547 and IEEE 2800) to identify potential gaps or considerations for future updates related to on-site energy resource and energy storage integration.

Through G-PST's partnership with Peru's system operator, Comité de Operación Económica del Sistema Interconectado Nacional (COES), NLR used an assessment framework from the Electric Power Research Institute to develop a control center modernization approach. COES has since created a department to implement these updates, and the approach is now a resource for other system operators worldwide.

Uruguay

NLR is working with a University in Uruguay to model energy storage potential for the Uruguay electrical grid.

Regional Support

In collaboration with other partners, NLR engages nearly 1,000 practitioners across Latin America and the Caribbean in initiatives spanning bioenergy, transportation, and private sector partnerships.

NLR also addressed cybersecurity challenges in the Latin American and Caribbean power sectors, collaborating with partners such as the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corp. to provide technical assistance and training. Key initiatives include conducting assessments using the open-source Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Framework, hosting capacity-building webinars, and supporting the Caribbean Cybersecurity Working Group.

NLR, with funding from Rockefeller Foundation, developed high-resolution wind data for South America, using its Sup3r Wind generative adversarial network to downscale coarse global climate reanalysis data into a validated 20-year, 2km/5-minute resolution dataset of wind speed, direction, temperature, and pressure from 10 m to 200 m, published on NLR's Wind Resource Database.