Wind Energy in Mexico: Development and Execution Best Practices

摘要

Development of wind projects in Mexico presents several challenges and opportunities that are unique to the Mexican marketplace. High PPA tariffs and a growing energy market attract developers to the Mexican wind market. However, seizing these opportunities requires developers to understand the needs of stakeholders such as Off-takers, CRE (Energy Regulatory Commission), and CFE (State Owned Utility). Some of the critical development challenges include: identifying viable Points of Interconnection, securing PPA's, working with limited small scale wind data, and managing the substation engineering design, review, and approval process. During the construction phase, some of the important challenges include: major equipment importation, EPC planning and reporting, and site safety, security and theft. Lastly, it is important to appreciate the positive influence of the Spanish workforce during Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) installation and the support from CFE during substation testing and start-up.