Mexico maintains slow permit approval rate for wind and solar

Mexico’s energy regulator CRE granted last year 12 permits for 10 photovoltaic parks and two wind farms to begin or continue construction this year, according to a list published in response to a transparency request.

However, CRE provided data only through April this year. 

Since then, CRE has approved only few other renewable energy permits amid a slow processing rate that has led to a backlog of more than 7,000 generation requests. One of the few recently approved permits published concerns Audi México, which received the green light at the end of June to build a 4.2 MW solar farm to power its plant in Puebla state.

All permits for the projects below are from last year, meaning CRE has not granted a single permit in this category during the first four months of 2023. Most will enter operations in 2025.

12 permits

At the top of the list is the US$815mn Puerto Peñasco solar park in Sonora state that represents the core of the US$48bn Sonora Plan seeking to attract investments with a sustainable focus. The 1GW park is being led by public power utility CFE and comprises four construction stages – the first started in February. 

It is followed by two wind farms under construction. One concerns a US$141mn, 94MW project authorized for French firm Solairedirect Participations in San Luis Potosí and the other involves a US$75mn, 50MW project led by Luis Eduardo Corral Andujo, director of firm Parques Renovables de México (PRM).

Eight solar projects on the list involve US$45mn and 30MW capacity each and all are in Chihuahua state. One of the projects belongs to Spanish firm X-Elio Energy, two to Mexico’s Grupo Trimex and four to Spain’s Codere México. 

One permit was granted to Cajeme local government, in Sonora state, which is investing US$15mn in a 10MW solar project, and to Mexico City, which plans to invest US$12bn to build a 16MW solar park.