The move to restrict renewable energy production is the second this month. We harness the earth’s most abundant resources – the strength of the wind, the heat of the sun and the force of water – to power the world’s biggest economies and the most remote communities. However, none of the companies could immediately be contacted to confirm that. Mexico cites virus in slapping down renewable energy Mexico's government has cited the coronavirus pandemic as a justification for new rules that will reduce the role of renewable … Industry associations said it will affect 28 solar and wind projects that were ready to go online, and 16 more under construction, with a total of $6.4 billion in investments, much of it from foreign firms. The renewable energy resources evaluated included wind, wave, tidal, current, solar, deepwater source cooling, and hydrogen. “There is certainly an ideological element to this and a clear lack of vision, but the operating problems are real.” It is not the first such tussle for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a champion of the state-owned oil industry who dislikes renewables and private-sector energy projects. On Friday, both Canada and the European Union wrote letters to the government complaining about the CENACE’s move, asking for an audience with Energy Minister Rocio Nahle. The decree over the weekend has sparked outrage among Mexican and foreign investors who had been allowed to sell their power into the government-operated grid. He said he wanted to level the playing field in a sector that for too long had been beholden to private interests.
Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a law expanding the state’s renewable energy mandate, officially known as the Renewables Portfolio Standard. In a decision dated May 18 and seen by Reuters, the judge said the April 29 order by market regulator CENACE risked distorting free competition to the detriment of the consumer, and Mexico’s commitments to promote a clean environment. Offshore wind showed the greatest resource potential when applied to the Gulf of Mexico and is the most mature technology of those analyzed for the region. “This last measure clearly marks a violation of the rule of law by giving extra-legal powers to the federal electricity commission," the federation wrote in a statement. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Mexico has several schemes for development of renewable energy generation, including the small power producer, self- supply, co-generation and the IPP schemes. Asked for comment by Reuters, Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) said it was studying the orders issued by CENACE and the energy ministry, and would make a determination on them if it decided to open an investigation. Mexico's pricey electrical rates had long hampered industry, but big firms thought they had found the magic solution in the early 2000s: They could sustainably source electricity from their own renewable projects, or those of specialized firms, and get both cheaper and greener power. The aforementioned law reforms included the set-up of a clean energy certification scheme to serve as the primary mechanism for encouraging clean energy development. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? But Mexico has been slow to build the kind of transmission infrastructure that could move power from the coastal or desert areas where wind and solar projects are, to the industrial cities where it is needed. Late on Friday, her ministry published an order that gives the government more scope to control the process of approving new renewable energy projects, further angering those who feel the administration is squeezing out private companies. But the situation really hit crisis levels when the pandemic caused a huge drop in electricity demand as factories closed. Mexico’s state-owned power utility the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) will not resume auction tenders for renewable energy generation capacity, … Mexico cites virus in slapping down renewable energyMatthew McConaughey grills Dr. Fauci in interview on COVID-19Thousands of students, staff sent home nationwide as COVID gnarls school reopeningsMauricio Montalvo, an employee of Mexico's electric company, wears a respirator mask for protection as he walks in a street in the Coyoacan district of Mexico City, Friday, April 3, 2020. Since taking office in December 2018, he has canceled planned bidding on private oil exploration and forced private firms to renegotiate gas pipeline contracts. CENACE suspended the plants, arguing that the intermittency of wind and solar power threatened the reliability of the national power supply during the coronavirus crisis. There were reports that several of the companies involved in the sector — many of which are Spanish, Canadian or American — were planning appeals to their embassies, the courts or arbitration panels. The Energy Transitions Act requires 50 percent of the electricity provided by the state’s utilities to be generated by renewable sources by 2030, 80 percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2050. Power feeds from these sources will have to be postponed during the pandemic.” New Mexico Gov.