South America has emerged as one of the most dynamic markets for behind-the-meter storage in 2026 — driven by a combination of high industrial electricity tariffs, rapidly improving solar economics, and a regulatory environment that increasingly rewards self-generation and demand-response capability.
Over the past quarter, ZCForest has expanded its delivery capability across the region, with a focus on projects that combine containerised storage with rooftop solar for industrial and commercial customers. The new pipeline spans Brazil, Chile and Peru, with discussions at advanced stages in Colombia.
Why South America, why now
Three factors have aligned to make this a particularly attractive moment for industrial storage in the region:
- Tariff structure. Many countries have implemented hourly or time-of-use industrial tariffs with significant peak/off-peak spread, creating native arbitrage value for storage.
- Solar resource. The high-irradiance regions across northern Chile, north-eastern Brazil and coastal Peru deliver capacity factors that materially improve solar+storage economics.
- Currency and finance. Trade-finance instruments — letters of credit, supplier credit, and structured product finance — allow imports to be financed in ways that domestic balance sheets sometimes can't accommodate.
What we're building
The typical project profile in this pipeline is a 500 kW to 2 MW system, paired with 800 kWp to 3 MWp of rooftop or canopy solar, sized for self-consumption with controlled grid export. Customer types include textile manufacturing, food processing, cold storage, mining service operations, and retail logistics.
What sets these projects apart is integration. We're not just shipping batteries; we're delivering an end-to-end solution that includes engineering, equipment selection, trade-finance support, logistics, customs clearance, on-site commissioning supervision, training and warranty. For customers without a deep in-house engineering team, this kind of integrated supply is the difference between a project that ships and one that stalls.
Trade-finance is a real advantage
Importing megawatt-scale energy hardware into South America is rarely a cash transaction. ZCForest's stable banking relationships allow us to offer commercial terms — including LC-backed shipments, supplier credit, and structured finance — that smooth the cash flow profile for the buyer. In several recent projects, this has been the determining factor in whether the project went forward at all.
What's next
The pipeline currently has more than a dozen active projects in commercial discussion, with first commissioning targets across the second half of 2026. We're also actively looking for installer and EPC partners in markets where we don't yet have a deep local presence.
If you're an EPC, integrator or industrial buyer in the region with a storage project on the horizon, get in touch — the easiest way is WhatsApp for a fast first conversation, then email for the detailed engineering exchange.