Climate change and poor energy diversification: keys to understanding power outages in Mexico and what lies ahead

Northern Mexico experienced an emergency derived from a winter wave from the United States earlier this week: prolonged power outages. On top of that, it was cutting off Texas’ natural gas supply, the main component of electricity production. It all resulted in industrial economic losses and including the devaluation of the peso Mexican. Subject matter experts highlight two key points behind this situation: climate change and the lack of energy diversification.

In a report produced this Thursday at President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s usual morning conference, it was explained step by step how the prelude to the energy crisis unfolded and how the problem was resolved.

Since Friday, February 12, I have had the warning of the effects of the wave of freezing in the north of the country and also of the decision of Texas to cut the gas supply of Mexico – an American state which still lives its own emergency due to the unusual cold front. They therefore chose to use fuel oil. They took him from the south to the north of the country. But the infrastructure was frozen and this caused at least some failures in the attempt to transport the alternative fuel.

The whole domino effect ended with at least 50 hours of massive blackouts in northern Mexico.

What is behind this emergency?

“On the one hand, it is climate change, this situation is more and more urgent and we will see more and more phenomena of this caliber ”, he declared in a dialogue with Infobae the Metro. Enrique Lendo, expert negotiator in economics and sustainable development. Then, he added, “measures must be taken to adapt and strengthen our resilience to this, in all aspects, for example infrastructure”.

And is that, although it was not entirely due to the freezing of the pipelines, it was all caused, a properly maintained and up-to-date infrastructure would most likely have reduced the problem of power outages considerably.

For him Dr Jesús Alberto López González, technical secretary of the Latin American Commission in the Senate and professor of national security, it is also a question of national security. “A power failure or a lack of energy it’s a national security issue because it affects the viability of the country in economic matters ”, whether in the short or long term, he explained to this community.

“There are certain circumstances that cannot be avoided, such as freezing; But if this freeze generates structural problems or uncovers structural problems in the energy supply of businesses or families, then it becomes a matter of national security and that is where the state is to deal with it. occupy, ”he stressed.

The expert also warned that Mexico must tackle the structural problem, taking into account the dependence on natural gas to generate electricity, so as not to endanger economic activities.

In this sense, Enrique Lendo explained the other cause that, in his opinion, caused this crisis: the lack of diversification, between energy sources and actors. “We are about 80% dependent on one type of energy source, which is the fossil fuel source, and that means we have very few mobility options when there are impacts of this type.” , he explained.

“It is a systemic problem, which has lasted for many years, in Mexico we have bet on a matrix which depends on natural gas, coal, fuel oil … fuels which at a given moment can present a risk situation. , which was what happened “.

Thus, the specialist in sustainable energy sees the changes in the electricity law that AMLO is currently promoting as a worrying factor, because it would be risk of loss of progress that Mexico already has in the diversification of the energy sector.

Texas natural gas dependency

Enrique Lendo located the beginning of this dependence in the oil history of Mexico, at the time of the expropriation. At that time, a strong bet was made on this energy and no alternative was taken into account to exploit it. “It’s a situation of yesteryear. In Mexico, instead of generating infrastructure and the exploitation of gas to meet the demand for energy, we have favored the exploitation of oil“. All this framed in the first half of the last century.

Then, he explained, technology advanced and new factories no longer used just oil to produce energy, but other types of energy, like natural gas, as it is. case of combined cycle power plants. Thus, the demand for this type of energy increased, while Mexico was unable to cover it and began to buy gas from the United States.

The future of electric power in Mexico

The concern is now in the future, in the short and long term, in terms of electrical energy. Los hechos, hasta ahora, son la crisis de los apagones y la incansable cruzada de López Obrador por reformar la ley at the end of fortalecer a la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), empresa productiva del estado, por encima de las energías limpias y las private companies.

Speculation in both cases even led to the devaluation of the Mexican peso, due to the instability these actions project abroad. A simple and direct call from specialists and authorities in the sector, inside and outside the country, also triggered: include equitable private sector participation in the Mexican energy sector.

“It is difficult to speak of self-sufficiency in a globalized world”, considered Jesús González.

While for Enrique Lendo, the CFE “should be extremely effective” for the formula of AMLO to work, which, moreover, warns that it goes against the global trend in the matter.

“What marks the the trend in the world is that it is more efficient to open the market and to work with public and private operators. What the theory says is that the government is good at covering a segment of the market, in this case transmission, and that the production part is left open to competition between private and public ”.

And, he noted, it will mean better costs, a greater range of services, different technologies.

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