Mexico plays host to a couple of big wind power conferences in the next few months. The Mexican International Renewable Energy Conference is being held at the end of May and promises to be even bigger than last year’s event when over 600 people attended.  It will focus on all types of renewable energy including wind and solar power. Currently taking place is the 2014  Mexican WindPower conference (26-27 February) which, as the name suggests, will be focusing on wind power exclusively.

Mexico Wind Conference

Mexico ranks 20th in the world for wind energy capacity, but according to the Mexican Wind Energy Association the country is expected to produce 12 GW by 2020, which will be fifteen percent of Mexico’s production. Mexico’s Energy Minister is Pedro Joaquin Coldwell and he estimates that the additional capacity will be 1.5GW annually until 2020. Addressing the conference he said that free competition is the way to go forward, and ending the Government’s tight control on the industry until now. The Government is preparing for the introduction of a wholesale electricity market with independent power producers- including wind operators.

714MW of wind energy will be connected in 2014. There were reports that some delegates thought this figure rather fanciful as red tape is still present, but there is no doubt that the liberalisation of the Mexican wind energy market will bear fruit over the coming years.

At present Mexico has 1370 MW of wind in operation. The alternative energy market in Mexico is expected to bring about some 45,000 new jobs- mainly in the wind turbine components area and in specialised services and transport. As Mexico’s demand for electricity is increasing at 5% a year, the Government want wind and solar power to be a significant contributor to meeting that need… and for 35% of all Mexico’s energy to be provided from renewable sources by 2020.

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It should also be noted that the power for the 2014WindPower Conference is provided 100% from wind energy. A nice touch!

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