Solar power in Mexico

Overview of solar power in Mexico

Solar power in Mexico

Installed capacity| 11.99 GW (2024) (18th)
Annual generation| 27.55 TWh (2024)
Capacity per capita| 92 W (2024)
Share of electricity| 7.6% (2024)

Solar power in Mexico contributes 27.55 TWh of generation to the Mexican grid, accounting for 7.6% of total electric power generation as of 2024.[1] Mexico has 11.99 GW of installed capacity, up from 0.18 GW in 2016.[2][3]

Solar power has the potential to produce vast amounts of energy. 70% of the country has an insolation of greater than 4.5 kWh/m2/day. Using 15% efficient photovoltaics, a square 25 km (16 mi) on each side in the state of Chihuahua or the Sonoran Desert (0.01% of Mexico) could supply all of Mexico's electricity.[4]

## History

[edit]

Concentrated solar power prospects for southwest United States and northern Mexico Installed Capacity of total distributed clean energy in Mexico. The blue line represents current growth in capacity and the green line are projections made by Mexico's Special Program for Energy Transition. Source: SENER, First Analysis on Clean Distributed Energy and Energy Efficiency in Mexico, 2017 (p. 7) Historic progress of installed PV solar capacity and generation in Mexico. Source: SENER. “Renewable Energy Prospective [Mexico]”. 2016 (p. 57) Future growth for current and added solar PV installed capacity and generation from 2016 to 2030. Source: SENER. “Renewable Energy Prospective [Mexico]”. 2016 (p. 61)

A law requiring 35% of electricity from renewable resources by 2024 and carbon emission reductions of 50% below 2000 levels by 2050 was introduced in 2012.[5][6] Combined with declining solar installation costs, it was estimated that the 2012 climate law would lead to 6 GW of solar capacity in Mexico by 2020.[7] At the Solar Power Mexico conference, it was said that PV electricity and solar thermal would comprise up to 5% of Mexico's energy by 2030 and up to 10% by 2050.[8] The first long term energy auction was held in 2015 with a second one in 2016. Solar PV was successful in both, securing 1,691 MW of the 2,085 MW auctioned in the first and 1573 MW of 3473 MW in the second auction.[9]

In 2013, 22% of the installed electricity generation capacity in Mexico was from renewable sources. The majority, 18.1% coming from hydroelectricity, 2.5% from wind power and 0.1% from solar PV.[10] In December 2013, the Mexican government passed a Constitutional Reform that effectively opened the energy sector to private investment, both for electricity generation and petroleum exploration and extraction.[11] The Reform's goal was to modernize the sector by optimizing the use of national resources and incentivizing renewable energy through clean energy certificates.[12] The Reform liberalized the electricity sector and brought forth a wholesale electricity market. Long and medium term auctions are the main mechanisms used to incentivize capacity and energy growth. Clean energy certificates are created by the participation of renewables and are meant to support energy generated from low carbon emitting sources. A long term energy action secures a 15-year contract for energy and capacity supplied whereas medium term generates a 3-year contract.[13]

At a clean source auction in 2016 solar won 1,860 MW at an average price of $50.7 per MWh (ranging between $35 and $67). The production was expected to be 4 TWh per year. Other sources such as gas, hydro and geothermal received no awards, and wind power won a smaller share than solar.[14]

## Production

[edit]

Historically, the main applications of solar energy technologies in Mexico have been for non-electric active solar system applications for space heating, water heating and drying crops. As in most countries, wind power development preceded solar power initially, due to the lower installation cost.[9] Since solar power is not available during the night, and because wind power tends to be complementary to solar, a mix of both can be expected. Both require substantial storage to compensate for days with no wind and no sun. Batteries provide short-term storage,[15] and pumped hydroelectricity provides longer-term storage.[16]

### Projects

[edit]

The Villanueva Solar plant is the largest in Mexico with 310 MW installed by mid-2018. When completed, it will be the largest in the Americas at 828 MW.[17]

Another large installation, Don José Solar Farm was completed in May 2018 Initially at 238 MW, a 22 MW expansion project was immediately announced.[18][19]

A 405 MWp (megawatt-peak) photovoltaic project in Puerto Libertad, Sonora was completed in December, 2018.[20] Originally planned to be 39 MW, the size was increased to allow generation of approximately 963 GWh (gigawatt-hours) of electricity per year.[21]

A solar trough based 14 MW plant will use a combined cycle gas turbine of 478 MW[22] to provide electricity to the city of Agua Prieta, Sonora. The World Bank has financed this project with US$50 million.[23] A 450 MW concentrated photovoltaics plant is planned for Baja California.[24]

## Distributed Generation

[edit]

Currently, 98% of all distributed generation can be attributed to solar PV panels installed on rooftops or small businesses. This installed capacity has greatly increased from 3 kW in 2007 to 247.6 MW by the end of 2016. According to the Mexican Ministry of Energy (SENER) if this trend continues till 2018 the total installed capacity will surpass 527 MW, this is the goal set by the Mexico's Special Program for Energy Transition or PETE (Programa Especial de la Transición Energética)[25]

Distributed energy in Mexico is classified as any system with a capacity below 500 kW.[26] The National Association of Solar Energy (ANES from the Spanish acronym) reported approximately 21,600 interconnection permits for distributed solar in 2015. In March, 2017 the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) approved regulation that allows net metering for distributed energy generation.[27]

## Solar potential

[edit]

Solar irradiation map of Mexico |

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (August 2018)

|

Source: WilsonCenter.org – Solar Energy Potential (PDF)[28]

## Installed capacity

[edit]

PV capacity in Mexico by year (MW)[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] Year  | Total capacity  | Installed capacity

|
|

2000 | 13.9 |
2001 | 15.0 | 1.1
2002 | 16.2 | 1.2
2003 | 17.1 | 0.9
2004 | 18.2 | 1.1
2005 | 18.7 | 0.5
2006 | 19.7 | 1
2007 | 20.7 | 1
2008 | 21.7 | 1
2009 | 25.0 | 3.3
2010 | 30.6 | 5.6
2011 | 40.1 | 9.5
2012 | 52.4 | 12
2013 | 112 | 60
2014 | 176 | 64
2015 | 282 | 106
2016 | 320 | 38
2017 | 539 | 219
2018 | 3,017 | 2,478
2019 | 4,426 | 1,409
2020 (forecast)* | 5,926 | 1,500

(*) This forecast does not account for economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

## See also

[edit]

* Mexico portal
* Energy portal
* Renewable energy portal

* Renewable energy in Mexico
* Wind power in Mexico
* Solar power
* Feed-in tariff
* Renewable energy
* Growth of photovoltaics
* Renewable energy by country

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Electricity Data Explorer". Ember. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
2. ^ "Electricity Data Explorer". Ember. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
3. ^ Mike, Munsell (June 14, 2016). "3 Fast Facts About Latin America's Solar Market".
4. ^ Sunny Mexico: An Energy Opportunity
5. ^ Mexico Emulates Neighbor California With 35% Clean Climate Law
6. ^ Mexican Renewable Energy Market Set to Soar in 2013
7. ^ Lucy Woods (2013-12-19). "Mexico to quadruple solar growth in 2014: GTM". PV-Tech.org. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
8. ^ "Solar Power Mexico 2012: The Only Event Uniting the Rapidly Expanding Mexican Solar Industry". Solar Power Mexico.
9. ^ a b Is Solar Power Cheaper Than Wind?
10. ^ "REmap 2030 A Renewable Energy Roadmap" (PDF). SENER and IRENA. May 2015.
11. ^ Vietor, Richard H.K. (January 23, 2017). "Mexico's Energy Reform" (PDF).
12. ^ "Reforma Energetica ¿Qué es?". Mover Mexico.
13. ^ "Mexico capacity and power auctions supported by clean energy certificates". International Energy Agency.
14. ^ Mohit Anand (5 April 2016). "Solar Stuns in Mexico's First Clean Energy Auction: 1,860MW Won at $50.7 per MWh". Retrieved 12 April 2016.
15. ^ Smarter Energy Storage For Solar And Wind Power
16. ^ Chu calls for hydro storage to conserve clean energy
17. ^ "Enel Green Power Mexico shows off work at Villanueva solar power plant". www.elp.com. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
18. ^ Enel switches on 238 MW solar park in Mexico, pv-magazine, Jorge Zarco, May 28, 2018
19. ^ Enel to expand its Mexican mega-projects by 96 MW, pv-magazine, Pilar Sánchez Molina, May 11, 2018
20. ^ "ACCIONA completes the assembly of a 405 MWp photovoltaic plant in Mexico, installing over one million panels in two months". acciona.com. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
21. ^ Sonora Energy to Build 39 MW Solar Project in Mexico Archived 2012-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
22. ^ Agua Prieta II
23. ^ "Cumulative and Newly-Installed Solar Photovoltaics Capacity in Ten Leading Countries and the World, 2009". Earth Policy Institute. 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
24. ^ First 50 Megawatts of Large Solar Power Plant in Baja California Archived 2012-08-23 at the Wayback Machine
25. ^ Secretaria de Energia (SENER) (2017). "Primer Analisis sobre los beneficios de la generacion limpia distribuida y la eficiencia energetica en Mexico" (PDF).
26. ^ Lopez, Alejo. "Generacion Solar Distribuida" (PDF).
27. ^ "México impulsa la generación distribuida solar con nuevas normas". PV Magazine. December 15, 2016.
28. ^ "Solar Energy Potential in Mexico's Northern Border States" (PDF). Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 19, 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
29. ^ "IEA PVPS Trends 2014 in Photovoltaic Applications" (PDF). International Energy Agency, Photovoltaic Power Systems. 12 October 2014. pp. 67–68\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2014.
30. ^ "Snapshot of Global PV 1992-2014" (PDF). iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=32. International Energy Agency — Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. 30 March 2015. p. 15\. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015.
31. ^ "Snapshot of Global Photovoltaic Markets 2015".
32. ^ 2016 SNAPSHOT OF GLOBAL PHOTOVOLTAIC MARKETS, IEA, 2016
33. ^ Snapshot of Global Photovoltaic Markets, International Energy Agency, 2017
34. ^ "Mexico's Solar PV Capacity Exceeds 4 GW | TaiyangNews". Retrieved 2019-08-13.
35. ^ Mexico Solar Photovolatic (PV) Market
36. ^ No es viable regresar a la Reforma Energética: ASOLMEX

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solar power in Mexico.

* Solar Power Mexico 2013
* Sonora Energy Group

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Solar power in Mexico

* Solar power
* Renewable energy in Mexico
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By state|

* Aguascalientes
* Baja California
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* Campeche
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Power plants|

| Current|

* Don José Solar Farm
* Villanueva Solar Park

|

Planned and
under construction|

* Agua Prieta II
* Xoxocotla, Morelos
* Calera de Víctor Rosales, ZAC
* Tampico Solar(GTO)
* Puerto Libertad, Sonora

Companies|

* Solar Power Mexico

Organizations|

* National Institute for Electricity and Clean Energy (INEEL)
* National Association for Solar Energy (ANES)
* Mexican Solar Photovoltaic Association (ASOLMEX)

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Solar power in the Americas

Sovereign
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* Antigua and Barbuda
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