By Greentech Lead Team:
Total installed wind power capacity in Mexico is expected to reach around
12,000 megawatts by 2020.
Wind power capacity will be
equivalent to 15 percent of the country’s electricity mix.
It is necessary to set a target for wind energy’s share of the country’s total
power generation to achieve that goal, according to the president of the
Mexican Wind Energy Association, Leopoldo Rodriguez.
This alternative energy sector will create some 45,000 jobs in the areas of
components and supply of specialized services.
A study of Mexico’s wind energy sector indicates it’s feasible to set a goal of
a 15 percent share of the total electricity mix by around 2020.
It is important to spur output by small wind producers and plan the expansion
of the electric grid to make room for contributions from wind energy and other
renewable sources.
Mexico has sites with conditions for installing at least 12,000 MW of
generating capacity by 2020 with just a few adjustments to the current
regulatory framework. But 1,000 MW of that proposed total has been installed to
date.
The wind energy industry could become one of the 10 main recipients of
investment (inflows) in Mexico.
That would add 167 billion pesos ($13 billion) to Mexico’s gross domestic
product, as well as mitigate the environmental impact of energy output by
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 23 million tons.
“We think the national goal of a 35 percent contribution of clean energies to
the country’s total output could be (achieved by) 2020 with the participation
of wind energy,” Rodriguez said.
Two of the basic goals of the National Energy Strategy, to be unveiled in late
February, are to diversify the energy matrix and increase renewable energy’s
contribution to meeting electricity demand, which is growing at a rate of 5
percent annually.
The WindPower Mexico forum has drawn national and international experts from
the public and private sectors who have developed successful technologies and
solutions for developing wind energy resources.
Mexico has become one of the focal points for the development of the wind
energy industry and is among the fastest growing countries in this sector
worldwide.