Mexico signs renewable energy deals with US firms

The agreements would generate 1,854 megawatts (MW) as the government scrambles to combat climate change.

Mexico is home to some of the largest automobile manufacturing plants in the world.

Mexico has made clean energy generation commitments with 17 US companies, president announced Friday that the country. After months of wrangling with business leaders, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that the agreements would generate 1,854 megawatts (MW) as the government scrambles to combat climate change. He did not reveal the amounts involved right away. “As a result of these agreements, the creation of solar parks on the border between Mexico and the United States is being explored,” the president said.

Also among the goals would be building energy transmission networks to let power be exported to California and other US states, he added at a climate conference. The United States, one of the countries with the largest investments in the Mexican energy sector, views Lopez Obrador’s intention to achieve greater state control of the electricity industry with concern. Together with Spain, Canada, Italy and Japan, they account for 93 percent of foreign investment in electricity, according to Economy Ministry data. Foreign and private participation is limited to the power generation phase, while the transmission and distribution processes are a state monopoly.

Last April, the leftist government failed in its bid to amend the Constitution to restore state control of the entire production chain, but it did achieve changes in regulatory laws that strengthen its role in a generation. Lopez Obrador also reported that the state company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) will allocate $2 billion of its own resources and credits to reduce methane gas emissions in oil exploration and production processes by up to 98 percent. “We also join the collective commitment of the world’s main economies to reach, by 2030, the objective of producing 50 percent of vehicles with zero polluting emissions,” added the president. Mexico is home to some of the largest automobile manufacturing plants in the world, including those of Volkswagen, Nissan, General Motors, BMW, and Kia, among others, with production destined for more than 80% of the US market.

According to US President Joe Biden, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine demonstrates that switching to renewable energy is a matter of national security in the face of climate change.

If you want to learn more about industrial regions in Mexico, take a glance here.

Source: www.bolnews.com