Intersolar Mexico will be held for the sixth time from September 2 to 4, at Mexico City’s Centro Banamex. Focusing on photovoltaic, solar thermal and energy storage technologies, the event has established itself as the leading platform for technological trends and B2B networking in the country’s solar market.
As part of the run up to the event’s 6th edition, a webinar was held in partnership with the Mexican Solar Energy Association (ASOLMEX), providing a platform for analysis of regulatory changes following the constitutional reform of October 2024.
Participating in the webinar were Marisol Oropeza, spokesperson for Intersolar Mexico, Nelson Delgado, General Director of ASOLMEX, Sofía Tamayo, Director of Institutional Relations and Regulatory Affairs at Kino Energía and José María Lujambio, Partner at the CCN law firm and Secretary of the Board of Directors at ASOLMEX.
Oropeza announced that Intersolar Mexico would be held simultaneously with The Green Expo and Aquatech Mexico, with some 400 exhibitors expected to participate across the three events, joined by 1,000 attendees from different regions of Mexico and overseas.
“We will have a conference program divided into three areas. The International Conference will feature 30 prominent international experts, including the webinar participants, addressing key topics from the solar and energy storage industries. There will be two free-access areas – the Intersolar Stage, where visitors will have the opportunity to listen to presentations from exhibitors and partners and to participate in technical workshops, and a new space, the Innovation Forum, with presentations on emerging solutions and technological trends.”
One of the most significant changes in the energy sector during the previous administration was reflected in the National Development Plan 2019–2024, published in July 2019. This document established that the core of energy policy would be the recovery of state-owned businesses, specifically the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).
Lujambio explained: “In the case of CFE, the concept of ‘recovery’ was not clearly defined at first, but over time it translated into specific objectives. One of the most relevant was to maintain its share of electricity generation above 54.46%, a figure that corresponds to the percentage of energy CFE injected into the electric system in 2018, which became a minimum operating threshold.”
Tamayo emphasized that the 2024 constitutional reform represented a reconfiguration of Mexico’s energy model, in which the State resumes a leading role as guarantor of energy security and sovereignty. Private participation is now limited under new rules with a focus on strengthening state control, and new legal concepts are introduced.
“The concept of ‘prevalence’ was introduced—an unprecedented notion in the Mexican Constitution and legislation. This principle establishes that private entities may participate in the electricity sector only under the terms defined by secondary legislation, but without prevailing over the State. It is a legally undefined concept that presents interpretative challenges and is directly linked to the idea of binding planning,” she explained.
“We must now wait for the publication of the various plans and programs established in the Electricity Industry Law, the Planning Law and the Energy Transition Law. Only then will we be able to more accurately understand the true scope of the concept of binding planning. For now, everything indicates that any new generation capacity must be strictly aligned with this planning, which means that developing projects outside the framework established by the State will no longer be possible,” she concluded.
Delgado pointed out that the issue of reliability and security restrictions will be crucial for operators, developers and power plant owners. “It is essential to clearly understand the limits of these restrictions, as there may be various technical and legal interpretations of their application,” he commented. “Under the logic that the State is the guarantor of the reliability, security and accessibility of the electric system, a prioritized dispatch order for state-owned power plants could be justified, creating uncertainty about how and when private generators will be allowed to participate.”
Lujambio explored to what extent these models including self-consumption, both grid-connected and off-grid (formerly known as isolated supply) would be subject to binding planning. “From my perspective, it seems unlikely, which could open up greater flexibility to incorporate new generation capacity through decentralized schemes, without the same restrictions faced by large-scale projects. Self-consumption has become a strategic component within the National Energy Strategy. For that reason, the creation of a one-stop window is being considered, with simplified and expedited procedures for projects ranging from 0.7 to 20 megawatts, which clearly reflects an intention to offer greater flexibility for decentralized generation models.”
Thus, the latest edition of Intersolar Mexico will be a key space to continue the dialogue on the energy sector in Mexico and to foster a deeper discussion around the development of the solar industry.
