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 do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Wind energy in Mexico is not as clean as you think
Indigenous Zapotec farmers in Mexico’s Tehuantepec Isthmus say wind energy multinational corporations are polluting the water, trampling on local land rights, and even turning to violence to achieve their aims. In March 2023, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry met with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Oaxaca, Mexico, to discuss U.S.-Mexico collaboration over renewable energy. It was announced that the United States would commit to invest in at least 10 new wind and solar parks in the region – already one . . . Complete story »
Indigenous community wins 5-year battle against Oaxaca wind farm
An indigenous community in Oaxaca has won a five-year battle against the construction of a wind farm in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region. The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) canceled contracts that would have allowed the French firm Électricité de France (EDF) to supply it with electricity generated at the Gunaa Sicarú wind park in the municipality of Unión Hidalgo. The cancelation makes the project unviable because private and foreign companies need a partnership with the CFE to get their power . . . Complete story »
Yucatán wind farms benefit big business and overlook local citizens
Fátima Gasca Chuc’s electricity bills hit her hard in the pocket. She only has one refrigerator, a couple of fans and a television. Yet she pays around US$75 per month. For eight years, Gazca has lived with her children in Flamingos, a coastal neighbourhood on the outskirts of Dzilam de Bravo in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. The family sells cakes to support themselves and lives in a humble house. But it sits right next to the Dzilam Bravo-Eólica Golfo 1 wind . . . Complete story »
Wind project splinters a Mexico region prized for powerful gusts
Two years ago, an SUV carrying four men screeched to a halt in front of the house of German Valdivieso Diaz, where he still lives with his parents and two nephews. They demanded to know how to find Valdivieso. And then they threatened to kill him. When the men left, Valdivieso said his terrified mother called, urging him to stay in Mexico City where he was taking a course—more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) northwest of their rural home in . . . Complete story »
Electricity commission blames wildfire, renewable energy for Monday’s power outage
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has blamed a wildfire, renewable energy producers and court rulings for the massive power outage that affected more than 10 million customers in a dozen states on Monday. But the evidence of a wildfire has been refuted and an energy specialist says the CFE is lying about the cause of the power failure. On Tuesday the CFE and the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) held a joint press conference to announce that the outage was . . . Complete story »
10.3 million CFE customers affected as electrical system fails
The federal electrical grid failed Monday afternoon, leaving 10.3 million customers in several of Mexico’s major cities without power for almost two hours. About 19% of CFE customers nationwide were affected in parts of Mexico City and México state as well as the cities of Guadalajara, Monterrey, Hermosillo, Saltillo, Culiacán, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Pachuca, Mérida and Oaxaca, among others. At least a dozen states were affected. In Mexico City, services on Line A and Line 1 of the Metro . . . Complete story »
Mexico: Civil lawsuit: French energy company EDF must comply with human rights obligations
Berlin/Mexico City/Paris, 13 October 2020 – The energy giant Electricité de France (EDF) plans to build a wind farm on the land of the Mexican indigenous community Unión Hidalgo. The indigenous community has not been appropriately consulted about the use of their land – a clear violation of their rights. Today, representatives of Unión Hidalgo, the Mexican human rights organization ProDESC and the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights filed a civil lawsuit in Paris urging EDF to . . . Complete story »
15 dead in fight over wind farm project in Mexico
Fifteen people were beaten to death in an indigenous village in southern Mexico which has been plagued by a dispute over an offshore wind farm project. The bodies of 13 men and two women were recovered by authorities in Huazantlan del Rio following a series of attacks on Sunday night and Monday morning. Some of the victims had been tortured and burnt alive, according to the San Mateo del Mar municipal government. Photos of several bodies were published on social . . . Complete story »
At least 15 dead in southern Mexico wind-farm feud killings
A longstanding feud over a wind-power project has boiled over into grisly violence, after at least 15 people were bludgeoned to death with stones and cement blocks, and some bodies were partly burned. The government of the Pacific coast community of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca state said Monday that 13 men and two women were killed in what he described as an attack by a group of dissident townspeople on Sunday. But dissidents who successfully opposed wind power . . . Complete story »
Is Mexico’s wind sector repeating fossil fuels’ mistakes?
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico is one of the windiest places on earth. Hemmed in by two mountain ranges, the flat strip of land between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico is a natural wind tunnel. A single gust can flip over cars. It’s the perfect place for turbines. The unique geography of the isthmus has brought it mixed fortunes. Union Hidalgo, once a sleepy, agrarian town, is among the predominantly indigenous communities in the area that . . . Complete story »
