Mexico will double its clean generation capacity, projects the SRE

The Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, promised to “double the generation capacity of clean energy in Mexico”, with an additional investment of 48,000 million dollars for a joint project with the United States to generate renewable energy.

This, as part of the voluntary actions that the country will commit to in nationally determined contributions (NDC) to mitigate climate change at the United Nations Conference (COP27) that takes place in Egypt, in addition to the summit between the T-MEC partners, which includes Canada, in order to increase the goal of 22% to 35% in the reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030.

President López Obrador has decided to expand the national objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 22% to 35%, to accelerate the energy transition in North America,” explained Ebrard, accompanied by the United States special envoy for climate John Kerry at a press conference.

“That means doubling efforts in the next eight years, compared to the original plans for this decade,” according to the chancellor.

Thus, with the support of the United States, it is estimated that an additional investment of approximately 48 billion dollars will be required between 2022 and 2030, which will be mobilized from the public and private sectors of both nations, explained the Mexican foreign minister.

The Mexican and US officials did not specify an amount of US financial support for this task, which will imply “doubling the clean energy generation capacity in Mexico,” Ebrard said.

The announcement, which will involve a large renewable energy project called Sonora on the US-Mexico border, “will be one of the most important topics at the next summit” of the three partners next month, Ebrard added.

“This is a vision, not just an announcement,” Kerry added.

Previously, the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, assured that Mexico must increase the production of clean energy faster than the United States to guarantee that it meets the demand for goods manufactured with more environmentally friendly inputs, said last Thursday the Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

During an event in San Luis Potosí, the official added that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked him to attend the COP27 climate summit that takes place from November 6 to 18 in Egypt.

On a Kerry visit to Sonora state last month, the foreign secretary said the countries shared a vision of increasing solar, geothermal, wind and hydroelectric production.

Mexico also presented Kerry with its so-called Plan Sonora, a push to turn the hot, arid border state into a green energy hub with solar farms and lithium production.

In his appearance before the deputies last week, the general director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), Manuel Bartlett, said that 13 hydroelectric plants are being modernized and three other agricultural dams are being equipped to transform them into hydroelectric ones. The 1,000-megawatt Puerto Peñasco Photovoltaic Power Plant is also under construction in Sonora, which to date registers the installation of more than 16,000 solar panels, and at the same time, the 25-megawatt Húmeros III Geothermal Power Plant is being developed, located in the state from Puebla.

“These projects, as a whole, add up to approximately 9,000 megawatts, and an investment of the order of 9,000 million dollars, through various financing mechanisms,” he said.

In addition, for this year 78,000 million pesos have already been exercised, with which the CFE seeks to generate 54% of the electricity required by the country, seeking to assume the baton of the transition towards renewable energy.