Sheinbaum pledges $13bn for Mexican energy transition

Spanish Market: Electricity
17/04/24

Mexican presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to invest $13.6bn in electricity infrastructure through 2030, with a key focus on Mexico's energy transition.

"We are going to accelerate the energy transition with new solar, wind and hydropower projects," Sheinbaum told a meeting of business associations in Merida, Yucatan, on 15 April.

Former Mexico City mayor Sheinbaum is ahead of opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez for the 2 June presidential election, according to recent polls.

While Sheinbaum is the continuity candidate for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's Morena party, she has been a vocal supporter of clean energy development in contrast to Lopez Obrador's pursuit of conventional power projects and a restriction on private sector renewable energy development.

"We are developing a national energy plan not just to 2030 but towards 2050 to coincide with our international climate change commitments," Sheinbaum said.

Mexico committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35pc by 2030 from a 2000 baseline at the Cop 27 climate talks in 2022.

Key projects through 2030 include 13.66GW of new power capacity across three hydropower plants, the third and fourth phases of the 1GW Puerto Penasco solar plant, two gas-fired combined cycle plants, cogeneration plants for the Cadereyta and Salina Cruz refineries, and additional wind and solar capacity.

In addition to large scale electricity projects, Sheinbaum also committed to a build out of distributed generation, calling for the installation of solar panels in residential and commercial property.

But while Sheinbaum pledged her "commitment to reaping the benefits of the historic moment Mexico is seeing in terms of foreign direct investment," she also recommitted to cap private sector electricity participation at 47pc.

Foreign direct investment into Mexico hit $36.1bn in the fourth quarter of last year, 22pc above the same period in 2022, but investment into the energy sector has tanked under Lopez Obrador's statist energy policies, according to the latest statistics from the economy ministry.

Lopez Obrador's government has largely focused on fossil fuel-based electricity generation, including the construction of new gas-fired combined cycle plants. But despite a commitment to build at least five combined cycle plants during his administration, Sheinbaum confirmed that only the Merida plant is due to launch by the end of this year. Launch dates for the Valladolid, San Luis Colorado, Gonzalez Ortega and Tuxpan plants have been pushed back to 2025-2030.

By Rebecca Conan

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