Is There Any Future for Solar Power in Mexico? Dwight Dyer - El DailyPost | |
go to original October 8, 2015 |
A new report by the venerable Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) indicates that "solar energy prices [in the United States] are at an all-time low, with the average price of solar energy [...] having dropped down to 5¢/kWh, representing a 70% decline in power purchase agreement (PPA) prices since 2009. The falling prices for this clean renewable energy resource are being driven by lower overall installed solar costs, improved performance, and the presence of a virtual landrush to get utility-scale solar projects online before the reduction of the federal investment tax credit next year, and as a result, PPA agreements are being signed with an average price of 5¢/kWh or less." Quite impressive.
Meanwhile, here in Mexico, the utility-scale solar power industry has been as sleepy as the New Mexico mining town in Herbert J. Biberman's 1954 classic Salt of the Earth, (spoiler alert) before the strike. Serious government plans to develop it are practically non-existent. For example, if you check the Energy Secretariat's recently published National Electric System Development Program 2015-2029 (PRODESEN), the solar power sector is less than an afterthought. Directly from the PRODESEN document: "Compared to other renewable technologies, this technology presents relatively high investment costs.
This much is evident in the national energy matrix, since the 9 operating solar facilities' share of total installed capacity is 0.1% (56 MW) and their share of total generation is 0.03% (85 GWh). Due to decreasing costs and motivated by the opening of the power market, greater competition and the commercialization of instruments to foster investment, it is estimated its participation [in the energy matrix] will increase." Period. Come back in 2029, maybe.
However, like the mine workers' wives in the movie, solar seems poised to start a small revolt.
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