Mexico still refuses to give the green light to Enel's three wind power plants
The "Amistad II, III and IV" wind farms installed in Mexico have been at a standstill for two years, due to the fact that the Italian company Enel's investment in wind energy has not obtained the necessary permits from the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE).
The parks, located in the state of Coahulia, total 350 megawatts (MW) and are ready to operate, but the CRE has not yet given the green light to an investment in renewable energy that exceeds 500 million dollars and that at the moment does not seem to be close to being able to start its activity.
The concessions belong to an auction that former president Enrique Peña Nieto carried out during his term in office, as a measure to open up the renewable energy sector as part of his energy reform project. He thus sought a mechanism that could make basic energy supply cheaper for Mexico's 44 million customers.
But the current president, Andrés Manuel López, and his energy team have criticised wind and solar technologies as a risk to the country's electricity system.
They claimed that they are costly, as they need to be backed up by conventional energy, and therefore decided to cancel the fourth auction during his third month in office.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the "excuse" that, according to the newspaper Energías Renovables, the CRE took advantage of to stop issuing permits and hand them out in a discretionary manner in favour of Mexican companies such as Pemex and CFE. But in the face of these accusations, the Energy Regulatory Commission has been silent in response.
The situation caused by the CRE has greatly harmed Enel, a company that already has multiple energy investments in Mexico, but is seeing how its intentions to evolve and grow are being frustrated by the self-interested management of a few.
Enel Green Power operates 1,720 MW in Mexico, of which 675 MW are wind, 990 MW solar and 53 MW hydroelectric. It has projects in Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Guanajuato, Michoacán, Jalisco and Guerrero, which positions it as a very prominent corporation in the sector, but which now sees some of its investments in Mexico in danger.
Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.
