Mexico' s Wind Energy Boom Plays Out on Gusty Shores David Alire Garcia - Reuters
go to original May 14, 2012

Mexican President Felipe Calderón at the inauguration of La Ventosa wind farm early last month. (Office of the President of Mexico)

LA VENTOSA, Mexico - On an arid plain where sudden gusts of wind can rip roofs off buildings and knock over tractor trailers, Mexico is building a new engine for its energy future.

Surrounded by towering turbines in every direction, the town of La Ventosa - which means "the windy place" in Spanish - is at the heart of a wind power boom in the country.

Mexico, the world's 14th biggest economy, still punches well below its weight in terms of wind energy, ranking 24th on the planet in installed capacity last year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

But the market is growing fast. By the end of this year, the national wind energy association expects Mexico to jump to number 20 on the list, which is dominated by wealthy European nations, the United States, China and India.

"We're talking about the largest growth in wind power projects anywhere in the world," President Felipe Calderon said recently near La Ventosa at the opening of Latin America's largest wind park owned by Spanish company Acciona SA, a long row of turbines whirring behind him.

Producing just 3 megawatts of wind power in 2005, Mexico now has nearly 400 times that, and will have 2 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2012, says the Mexican Wind Energy Association, or AMEE.

Though it only accounts for a fraction of the 2011 global total of nearly 240 GW, by the beginning of next year, Mexico's installed wind power potential should equal almost 4 percent of the country's own energy needs.

The planned build-up will make Mexico's wind industry the fastest growing in the Group of 20 economic powers this year, said Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Brussels-based GWEC. He also said Mexico's net addition to installed capacity in 2012 could be the fifth highest of any country.

Most of the increase will come from giant wind farms along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest point between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Eighteen of Mexico's 27 wind plants now operate around La Ventosa.

Acciona says its $600 million project alone will be enough to power 700,000 Mexican homes, generating 306 MW of energy with 204 turbines. That investment will be followed later this year by an even bigger wind farm owned by the Macquarie Group's Mexico hedge fund, in partnership with Mitsubishi Corp and PGGM, a leading Dutch pension fund.

By turning to wind, Mexico aims to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels that now power some 80 percent of electricity.

Read the full article on Reuters

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!