Mexico hits 20 GW clean energy, expects jump in solar capacity

Mexico’s Energy Secretariat (SENER) published a Progress Report last week on the status of clean energy in the country (note: the Government also considers nuclear as “clean”).

SENER says the country reached an installed capacity of 20,160 MW of clean energy assets by the end of June; an increase of 6.29 percent over June 2015. At June 30, clean energy represented 28.39 percent of the total national capacity and in the first half of the year generated 30,586.81 GWh; 19.68 percent of total generation.

As a result of auctions, wind capacity is expected to triple in the years ahead, with 2,456 MW installed capacity at the end of 2018 and another 3,857 MW at the end of 2019.

Growth in solar PV was approximately 100 MW between June 2015 and 2016. Solar power is about to get a significant boost and it’s expected that by the end of 2019, 5,400 MW of capacity will have been installed – 20 times the current capacity.

A major contributor to the increase of solar energy capacity in Mexico are two auctions. The first will see 1,691 MW of capacity installed and the second, 1,853 MW.

Mexico has set clean energy targets of 25 percent by 2018, 30 percent by 2021 and 35 percent by 2024.

“It should be noted that Mexico has an enormous potential in renewable resources, and thanks to the reforms implemented in the energy sector, barriers have been eliminated that impeded the development of new projects and technologies, achieving significant growth in the installation and development of new projects,” says SENER (translated).

Earlier this year, the USA, Canada and Mexico committed to achieving a target of 50% clean power across North America by 2025.

In related news, it was recently suggested that the wall U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wishes to build between the two countries should instead be a “border of solar panels”, which Homero Aridjis and Professor James Ramey state would benefit both countries and alleviate a range of binational problems.

“Mexico and the U.S. would be connected by a truly beautiful wall ― a symbol of unity, visible even from space,” they say.