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Wind Power News: Mexico
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort 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.
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 »
Mexican communities reject Chinese solar farm in Yucatán
In February 2019, residents of the municipalities of Cuncunul and Valladolid, about 1,500 kilometres south of Mexico City, sued the Jinkosolar Investment Pte. Ltd., the Chinese company managing the Yucatán Solar Park project for violating their right to prior consultation on projects that affect their livelihoods. A judge ruled in favour of the plaintiffs since the area’s indigenous peoples were not consulted prior to the installation of the solar farm. Nor did they have complete information about the project. Despite . . . Complete story »
The Supreme Court annuls permit for solar and wind farm in northern Yucatan
A cyanide production plant and a wind and photovoltaic park, the latter in Yucatan, have found judgments of opposition in the Supreme Court of Justice, which denied the protection against the first, but granted it against the second. The Second Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court annulled the permission to develop the aforementioned wind and solar energy park in Yucatan, and ordered the development of a new process for evaluating social impact and consulting indigenous communities, stating that the project . . . Complete story »
Mexican government halts grid connection of new solar and wind projects
Mexico’s National Energy Control Center (Cenace) has imposed new restrictions on renewable energy deployment, citing the need to protect energy security during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cenace published on Wednesdey provisions in the Mexican official journal which halted grid connections for new solar and wind power projects until further notice. Business lobby group the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial (CCE) described the move as arbitrary and a restriction on competition. “Without solid technical motivation or fully justified legal basis … Cenace has . . . Complete story »
Danish wind turbine project facing stormy weather in Mexico
On balance, wind turbine projects are usually seen as a good thing, harnessing natural forces to produce sustainable energy. However, a project dubbed Eólica del Sur, Sydvind, which has been given the go-ahead involving the Danish firm Vestas, has been drawing fire from indigenous peoples in the Oaxaca region. The Mexican government is being accused of going ahead with the project and riding roughshod over the feelings of the people living in the area – one of the poorest in . . . Complete story »
Mexico suspends ongoing clean energy tender
MEXICO: The new government has suspended an ongoing clean energy auction without saying when results will be announced or when contracts may be awarded. Mexico’s grid operator and regulator Cenace (the National Energy Control Centre) stated the suspension would allow president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s new administration to review the tender mechanism’s scope and objectives. However, Cenace, which is responsible for carrying out tenders, did not state when the tender would now be held – only that it would notify relevant . . . Complete story »
Injunction halts Oaxaca wind farm over indigenous rights violations
A federal judge has granted an injunction halting the construction of a new wind farm in Unión Hidalgo, Oaxaca. A group of activists filed the injunction request on the grounds that the rights of local indigenous communities were violated during the planning and development process for the US $600-million project. However, the state Environment and Sustainable Energy Secretary was optimistic about the future of the wind farm, which is being built by the French firm Électricité de France (EDF). José . . . Complete story »
Fishermen’s houses burned to make way for wind farm
Twenty houses were set on fire as a three-year-old dispute flared up over a wind farm in a Oaxaca coastal municipality. Municipal authorities and a community of fishermen are at odds over the Boca Barra wind farm, which was first proposed three years ago. The indigenous fishermen of Pueblo Viejo have strongly opposed it, refusing to give up 15,000 hectares of coastal land. Yesterday, the municipal representative in Pueblo Viejo, Francisco Álvarez, led a group of supporters to the beach . . . Complete story »
Queman 20 viviendas en Oaxaca
Un grupo de habitantes del municipio de San Francisco del Mar, Oaxaca, incendió 20 casas rurales de la comunidad de Pueblo Viejo para desalojar a pescadores que viven en la zona y poder ceder el terreno a empresas eólicas. El subsecretario de Desarrollo Político, Carlos Ramos, informó que personal de la dependencia se trasladó al lugar para dialogar con los inconformes. De acuerdo con reportes policíacos, habitantes de la agencia municipal de San Francisco, encabezados por Francisco Álvarez, prendieron fuego . . . Complete story »
National Defense paid twice for Oaxaca wind farm
The Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) was forced to pay twice for the construction of a wind farm on an air force base in Oaxaca after a contractor failed to deliver the project, financial records show. The department contracted with Grupo Tradeco to build the project, whose purpose was to make the Ixtepec base in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region energy self-sufficient. But Sedena cancelled the contract in 2015, arguing that Tradeco had presented fabricated details about the project’s progress. . . . Complete story »
