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| [PHOTO: Mark Florence/brawnhumus.com/training/CC BY-SA 2.0] |
Mexico City: The scorching hot Sonora Desert in Northern Mexico isn´t
exactly a hospitable place for human beings, but some consider it a goldmine.
According to experts, a mere 25 square kilometers could provide enough solar
energy to supply Mexico´s 114 million inhabitants with electricity.
Mexico is the perfect place to invest in solar energy;
Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) averages approximately 5 kWh/m2/day. In
fact, a June 2009 GTZ report indicated that 0,06% of Mexico´s national territory would be
sufficient to generate the entire electricity consumption of the country.
Moreover, Mexico has an open economy, which has shown
remarkable resilience despite a severe backlash from the international crisis
in 2009. Growth amounted to 3,8% last year, with similar figures expected for
2013. Its geographical advantage as the United States’ next-door neighbor and
its plethora of free trade agreements attract investors from across the globe.
To get those investors to turn their attention to solar is
one of the main topics of SolarPlaza´s El Futuro Solar: Mexico conference, held in February in Mexico City.
Such a boost in interest is certainly welcome, because for all its
mouthwatering potential, Mexico´s potential is still largely untapped; in 2011
solar power only amounted to one per cent of the country´s energy matrix.
“We´re at the very beginning of formalizing the market”,
explains Carlos Flores, CEO of Conermex, a Mexico City-based company
specialized in renewable energy solutions. He will be one of the speakers at El
Futuro Solar: Mexico. According to Flores, there are still few incentives for
investors in terms of subsidies or injection tariffs. “One of the problems is
the cost of solar power for private users with high levels of consumption; the
industrial sector pays much less.”
The administration of president Felipe Calderón, who left
office in December, did make some headway in making the market more attractive.
April last year, congress approved a clean energy law that requires renewable
energy generation to grow to 35% of total output by 2024. Moreover, through the
prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) the government is
attempting to establish the exact solar potential the country actually has.
So far, solar development has largely focused on small scale
projects providing rural communities with off-grid electricity, but interest in
larger projects is growing. Mexico boasts a robust manufacturing industry,
exporting a whopping 350 bilion USD worth of consumer goods per year. With the
United States as its neighbor and fellow member of the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the manufacturing of solar panels is one of the major
investments possibilities in years to come.
Still, manufacturing for other countries is only one step.
Mexico´s domestic market also needs to be developed, which is why Flores feels
El Futuro Solar: Mexico is an important event. “It´s important to tell the
investors what´s going on, to give them precise information”, he says. “In the
end, we expect the cost to generate solar power to go down, while conventional
means will become more expensive. It´s a very attractive market to invest in.”