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By AFP
With its endless dunes and cactus, the silent desert of the state of northern Mexico Coahuila seems to be the same as any other except is home to the largest solar energy park
The location was chosen by the Italian company Enel to install 2.3 million solar panels that are expected to generate enough energy for 1.3 million homes in Mexico. from the second half of the year
In this silent zone, the blue solar panels – which cover an area equivalent to 2,200 football fields – move slowly following the sun as s & # 39; They were sunflowers . In the distance, they look like an ocean in the middle of the desert
But they are a sample of the objective that owns Mexico, so that 35% of the electricity is produced by clean energies such as the sun or the wind from here 2024.
This goal is possible thanks to the energy reform of 2013, which ended 76 years of state monopoly in the sector. It has also opened the private sector to the production and supply of electricity and ended the monopoly of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
This part of the reform sometimes goes unnoticed by Mexicans, although it has sparked enthusiasm Companies
"We are very satisfied with the environment and opportunities in Mexico," says Antonio Cammisecra, director of Enel's global renewable energy division.
"After the reform, we see better conditions Although Mexico's elected president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has criticized the energy opening of the campaign, badysts doubt that it is interrupting the campaign.
.] The goal of generating clean energy is also achievable because the costs of solar technology have dropped significantly.
According to the International Agency As As an organization of renewable energy, an intergovernmental organization that promotes clean energy, the cost of manufacturing solar panels has dropped dramatically over the last decade "making them not only affordable but also the cheapest. "
" The solar photovoltaic energy has had the most growth in the entire world. This boosts technology innovators, "says Arturo García, an expert of Deloitte consulting firm
The solar energy industry in Mexico has also taken note.
"Before the reform becomes an environmental problem," says Víctor Ramírez, executive director of the National Association of Solar Energy, an organization that brings together several companies in the sector in Mexico.
"Today, it's not just an environmental issue, but an economic issue.It's getting cheaper to have energy from sources solar, investment will go out there. "
Therefore, the interest of a company com or Enel: in addition to the solar park in the desert He also built one wind farm in Coahuila and another in Tamaulipas.
Only in May, the company promised to invest $ 97 million more to expand
Other companies are betting on solar energy, the Dutch Alten built a solar park in Aguascalientes, while the Spanish company Iberdrola builds similar facilities in Sonora and San Luis Potosí.
Atlas Renewable Energy, supported by Actis, the British capital, recently acquired the Guajiro project in Hidalgo, which is expected to produce energy for about 120,000 homes a year.
"Mexico has a world-clbad solar resource, very good characteristics, especially in the north-central part of the territory," says Camilo Serrano, general manager of the company in the country. [19659020] Solar MX1 (800×600) ” />
The reform established electricity auctions, a mechanism in which private companies buy and sell energy from clean sources, and have left an estimated investment of $ 8,600 million, according to official figures.
It is fully tested and identified and the appetite of investors is evident in the auctions, "adds Serrano, Atlas Energy. [19659002] The Mexican Minister of Energy, Pedro Joaquin, said in April that after these auctions will be built in a total of 40 facilities He added that in 2015 there were nine solar parks and that It should reach 68 installations in 2021.
To date, there have been three auctions, in which there has been a decrease in electricity production costs has been made, making it an investment more viable.
The cost of power generation increased from US $ 50 per megawatt to US $ 20 at the third auction.
These figures, the government ensures that Mexico is one of the 10 countries with the largest own investment in the world. He hopes to keep up the trend with the upcoming auction in November of this year.
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