Minister: Mexico’s postponed auction will come when time is right

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
“If clean energy production rises, so must gas infrastructure to back that electricity,” Nahle told event attendees (Image credit: Mexican government)

Mexico’s state-run utility and fossil fuel infrastructure need more time before the country can re-arrange the renewable auction it cancelled this year, a top official has said.

The country’s delayed fourth clean energy tender is “likely” to still go ahead but only when conditions are “optimal”, energy minister Rocío Nahle García said at an event this week.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Mexico assigns renewables a “fundamental role” in its energy transition, the government figure said as she addressed the Foro Energy Meet Point conference in Mexico City.

The country, Nahle argued, will stride towards clean energy growth “responsibly” to ensure it meets its target to source 35% of electricity from renewables by 2024.

However, the minister cautioned, support via further government tenders will depend on what the outlook is for state-run utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

Since left-wing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) came to power last year, CFE has staged a pushback against its obligation to purchase clean energy as the government offtaker.

In April, the state entity cited AMLO’s “new vision” as it warned it could reopen PPAs it said it was forced to enter under earlier tenders, describing wind and PV power as “very costly”.

The government, minister Nahle said this week, wants to ensure CFE has the time to beef up its own generation and transmission portfolio before a new clean energy tender is held.

“It is important to support the state’s productive entity because they are the ones who will pull the other actors through,” said Nahle, a chemical engineer by training.

‘More gas infrastructure’ before tender can take place

The minister appeared to link any future renewable tendering to further growth of natural gas. “If clean energy production rises, so must gas infrastructure to back that electricity,” she argued.

Nahle’s cautious support to the renewable agenda echoes similar statements in recent months. Opening a utility-scale PV plant in August, she said clean energy can count on AMLO’s support.

At the launch of Zuma Energía's 162MWp La Orejana, she argued the new government’s energy policy will not be “constrained, compressed nor inhibited”.

It will, Nahle argued, be “different” however to the agenda of prior president Enrique Peña Nieto, who legislated for a sweeping reform to liberalise the energy market.

Recently approached by PV Tech, Mexican operators urged developers to rethink negative pre-conceptions and tap into the country’s inherent PV potential, with foreign moves on the rise.

“As ideological as the government may yet become, energy will be needed and solar’s costs are very attractive,” Marco Nieto-Vázquez, partner of Baker McKenzie Mexico, told this publication.

“It’s time to be flexible, to listen beyond the show in the media, to realise that change does not mean opportunities are gone,” Nieto-Vázquez added, when contacted for a recent feature.

The feature examining the opportunities and risks of Brazilian and Mexican PV was part of PV Tech Power's Volume 20, which you can subscribe to here

The prospects and challenges of Latin American solar and storage will take centre stage at Solar Media's Energy Storage Latin America, to be held in Colombia on 28-29 April 2020.

Read Next

October 3, 2025
Renewables developer Madison Energy Infrastructure has bought the US distributed generation assets of NextEra Energy Resources.
Premium
October 2, 2025
Australia's solar sector delivered a strong September performance in the National Electricity Market (NEM) as the country entered spring, with combined solar PV generation reaching 3,933GWh - a 17.83% increase from August's 3,338GWh.
October 2, 2025
Spanish waste management company Trabede and energy firm Greening Group will build a solar module recycling plant in Granada, Andalusia, Spain.
October 2, 2025
The European solar sector will lose around 5% of its jobs in 2025, the first contraction in employment for the sector in nearly a decade.
October 2, 2025
PV products using perovskite technology could assume a dominant position within the next ten years, according to module producer Qcells' CTO.
Premium
October 2, 2025
PV Talk: Qcells’ CTO Danielle Merfeld discusses the imminent opening of America’s first integrated ingot-to-module factory and her belief in solar’s long-term strengths.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland