Wind Power News: Mexico
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
The ‘wind rush’: Green energy blows trouble into Mexico
The Isthmus of Tehuantapec, Mexico’s narrowest point, is a powerful wind tunnel of air currents whipping through the mountains that separate the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Here, on the Pacific side, the wind shapes everything from the miles-long sandspits of Laguna Superior to the landscapes of the indigenous people’s hearts. Howling constantly through thatched roofs, the wind is powerful enough at times to support a grown man leaning back as if in a chair. Gales average 19 miles per hour, . . .
Community threatened by wind farm staff
URGENT ACTION Members of an indigenous community in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, have been threatened by security staff from a wind farm construction company. The company has been building on their land. Two human rights defenders have also received death threats. Their lives are a risk. On 21 October, around fifty workers from a wind farm company arrived on land belonging to the indigenous Zapoteca community of Unión Hidalgo in Oaxaca state. The workers destroyed the fence surrounding the land. According . . .
Tensa a indígenas plan eólico en Istmo
[So far, 28 of the 76 landowners that had originally leased their properties are determined to terminate the contracts due to dissatisfaction with the payments they have been receiving.] AHORA, 28 DE LOS 76 PROPIETARIOS QUE ORIGINALMENTE HABÍAN ARRENDADO SUS PROPIEDADES, DETERMINARON RESCINDIR EL CONTRATO POR INCONFORMIDAD CON LOS PAGOS QUE ESTÁN RECIBIENDO UNIÓN HIDALGO, OAX.- Indígenas de esta comunidad se encuentran confrontados debido a un proyecto eólico de la empresa Demex que se realiza en la zona. En una . . .
One killed and over 20 injured in Mexican wind protest
MEXICO: The killing of a man during a demonstration against wind plant construction in the Mexican state of Oaxaca has brought new weight to allegations of death threats against local protestors from the indigenous Zapaoteca community. The man killed, Reynaldo Ordaz, was among wind plant construction driving through a roadblock mounted by demonstrators, October 28. Ordaz was reportedly shot in the face, though it is not yet clear from which side of the shot came. The protest against the 90MW . . .
Denuncian en México presiones de firma española para construir parque eólico
[Pressure by Spanish company to erect wind energy facility in Mexico denounced] México, 27 oct (EFE).- Varias organizaciones, entre ellas Amnistía Internacional (AI), denunciaron hoy las presuntas presiones que está sufriendo una comunidad indígena mexicana por personal de la compañía DEMEX, filial de la española Renovalia Energy, que construye un parque eólico en el sureño estado de Oaxaca. Según la sección mexicana de AI, miembros de la comunidad indígena de Unión Hidalgo “han sido amenazados por el personal de seguridad . . .
Legislature votes to oppose trans border power line near Jacumba to save jobs
A resolution introduced by District 40 State Senator Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) and passed in both houses Friday seeks to put the brakes on a high voltage trans-border power line slated to bring electricity in from the proposed 1250 MW La Rumorosa wind turbine project near Jacumba. Vargas presented SJR 13 as a jobs protection measure for Californians who, Vargas says, would lose 15,000 green energy jobs if the turbine farm is built in Mexico instead of California.
Senator opposes cross-border power line; builder opposes senator’s opposition
Imperial County’s state senator is asking the state to take a stand against a cross-border power line that some have said will cost the Valley hundreds of jobs and millions in investment. State Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, introduced a joint resolution, calling on the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy to reject an application for a transmission tie between Mexico and San Diego County. Sempra Generation applied for a Presidential Permit to build the Energia Sierra Juarez transmission . . .
Sen. Vargas calls for regulators to deny Sempra permit to import wind power
Sen. Juan Vargas, D-Chula Vista, introduced a resolution Tuesday calling for federal regulators to deny San Diego-based Sempra Energy a permit to import energy from a proposed wind farm in Baja California. Vargas said the project would outsource five years worth of employment for 600 construction workers, jobs that could be better utilized in the Imperial Valley, which has the nation’s worst unemployment rate at 27.9 percent. Officials with Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, could not be reached . . .
Mexican protesters bring Iberdrola wind project to a halt
Work at Iberdrola Renovables’ La Venta 3 wind farm site in Mexico has been halted by protesters alleging the Spanish developer is violating their rights. Iberdrola is alleged to have broken a contract between itself and the ejidatarios who hold rights to the land, according to Bettina Velázquez, who helps lead opposition to wind-power development in the region. Locals are being poorly compensated and workers underpaid, Velázquez says. The 103MW project is in the state of Oaxaca, where 2.5GW of . . .
Protests in Juchitan against wind companies
[Translated from the Spanish original at Oaxaca Libre by Scott Campbell] For more than seven months, we, communal land owners from Juchitan de Zaragoza, Union Hidalgo and Xadani, have dealt with the irresponsibility of the civil judge of Juchitan de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, in front of whom we’ve placed more than 120 claims for the nullification of contracts we were deceived into signing with transnational wind energy corporations. Claims to which the judge has not given appropriate attention and with which . . .
