Mexican wind power industry has 10GW in projects awaiting permits

Mexico’s wind power industry has some 10GW in projects that could help the government meet its clean energy generation target next year. 

But slow permitting is keeping these “very advanced” projects stagnant, Leopoldo Rodríguez Olivé (pictured), outgoing president of wind energy association AMDEE, told BNamericas on the sidelines of the Mexico Wind Power event in Mexico City.

During the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, former foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard announced that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador decided to increase Mexico’s clean energy goal from 22% to 35%, investing US$48bn together with the US government in renewable projects. 

In April, however, the López Obrador announced the objective would be met by 2024, coinciding with the goal the nation committed to under the 2015 Paris Agreement. 

Rodríguez said that “36,000MW renewables are required, of which 16,000MW are wind and, of those, 10,000MW could be done if we wanted to start tomorrow, they are quite advanced. These are totally new projects that are at an advanced level but do not have permits.”

Energy regulator CRE has not granted a single wind generation permit this year, and while the regulator has been criticized for keeping more than 7,000 requests on stand by, renewable permits are among the ones granted the least. 

As of end-April, CRE had registered 12 wind and solar projects under construction, but only two related to wind power only.

According to Rodríguez, nearshoring could change the government’s perspective. 

“We are beginning to see that the government is catching up with the message that there is an important demand for relocating companies, or nearshoring. Companies are demanding green energy, and if we do not give it to them, they will not necessarily come to settle here,” he said. 

During his participation at the event, Rodríguez introduced Gerardo Pérez Guerra as the new president of AMDEE, starting September 6. Among the challenges the new leader will face are lack of permitting and "technical limitations," Rodríguez said.