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-power pollution: Turbine oil seeps into the land in Mexico
Wind turbines were planted along a strip of Mexico’s southern coast to make the country’s power industry cleaner. Now they’re spilling oil. In the town of Juchitan last month, a clean-up was under way around a generator owned by Electricite de France. Workers wearing goggles and masks were scrubbing off a copper-colored lubricant that dripped down from the turbine. They’d wrapped cloth around its base, to absorb further leakage, and stuffed contaminated soil and stones into plastic trash-bags. Cows graze . . . Complete story »
Expansion of renewable energies in Mexico has victims, too
The growing number of wind and solar power projects in the southern Mexican state of Yucatán are part of a positive change in Mexico’s energy mix. But affected communities do not see it in the same way, due to the fact that they are not informed or consulted, and because of how the phenomenon changes their lives. “We have no information. We have some doubts, some people say it’s good and some say it’s bad. We have heard what is . . . Complete story »
Community acceptance challenges put Mexico’s wind ambitions at risk
Mexico is looking to wind farms to reach its renewable energy targets. However, completion of wind projects has proven challenging as negotiations between indigenous communities and developers have sometimes ended in long delays and even project suspensions. The Pena Nieto administration hopes the country will be generating 25% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2018. To achieve this, the government set a goal of bringing 10,140 MW of new renewable energy capacity online, with 7,590 MW of that wind. . . . Complete story »
Mexico’s wind farms brought prosperity, but not for everyone
LA VENTOSA, Mexico – At night, Juan Piñeda López hears the hum of a wind turbine that churns 300 yards away from his adobe house. Sometimes he catches the stench of lubricant that spews down the turbine’s mast. Beyond that, Mr. Piñeda said, the forest of turbines that has sprung up on the plains here in the southern state of Oaxaca in recent years barely affects him. And that is the problem. Eight years after Mexico embraced the fight against climate . . . Complete story »
Legal challenges halt wind, hydro projects
The future of a series of investments in renewable energy sources amounting to over 19 billion pesos (just over US $1 billion) remains uncertain, because the communities where they would be located have filed amparos to halt them. That’s the case with the 396-megawatt capacity Eólica del Sur wind farm in the Isthmus region of the state of Oaxaca. The project has been delayed by four years due to its rejection by a group of community land owners, or ejidatarios. . . . Complete story »
Dutch pension fund quits much-delayed 396-MW wind project in Mexico – report
Dutch pension fund manager PGGM is abandoning a 396-MW project in Mexico after several years of delays due to community resistance, Dutch media reported this week. The fund is withdrawing the EUR 250 million (USD 285m) it had earmarked for the 132-turbine Eolica del Sur wind power project in Oaxaca state. This is the successor to the Marena project that attracted many community complaints and significant opposition. Apart from PGGM, the project consortium also includes Macquarie and Mitsubishi Corporation (TYO:8058). . . . Complete story »
The dark side of clean energy in Mexico
A palm hat worn down by time covers the face of Celestino Bortolo Teran, a 60-year-old Indigenous Zapotec man. He walks behind his ox team as they open furrows in the earth. A 17-year-old youth trails behind, sowing white, red and black corn, engaging in a ritual of ancient knowledge shared between local people and the earth. Neither of the two notices the sound of our car as we arrive “because of the wind turbines,” Teran says. Just 50 meters . . . Complete story »
Wind farm project halted after appeal
As Mexico strives to find alternatives to non-renewable power sources, finding a balance between development, new technologies and citizens’ concerns is proving difficult, as recent developments in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec have shown. An US $850-million wind farm project to be developed by Energía Eólica del Sur in the region, while controversial, was approved in August by a community assembly after months of consultation. The project was the first in Oaxaca to undergo a new review process intended to be . . . Complete story »
Mexican wind farm sending power to U.S. comes under fire
GWEN IFILL: As world leaders focus on climate change this week, we look to the sky and a first-of-its-kind partnership to deliver renewable energy across borders. Jean Guerrero of local station KPBS has the story from San Diego. JEAN GUERRERO: Sixty-two-year-old Jose Mercado runs a grocery store near the center of the Jacume, a small rural town just south of the U.S.-Mexican border. He’s part of a commune leasing land to the first cross-border wind energy project, Energia Sierra Juarez. . . . Complete story »
Mexico planning $46 billion coast-to-coast wind-energy push
Mexico is planning to quadruple its wind-power capacity as part of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s effort to transform the country’s energy industry. The country expects to have about 10 gigawatts of turbines in operation within three years spread across almost every region, up from 2.5 gigawatts in 2014, part of a government plan to add 20 gigawatts of clean energy by 2030, according to Mexico’s Wind Energy Association. A total of 22 gigawatts of wind power will be added over . . . Complete story »
