Asia Fuels Mexico's Solar Revolution

Almost 61% of the investments Mexico is receiving due to nearshoring are coming from Asia, particularly from China. However, most of these companies are seeking solar energy as a supply source, highlighting the need to further develop these capabilities.

Electricity generated by solar panels is crucial for new plants being installed in Mexican territory to reduce their costs and achieve their goals of emissions reduction and renewable energy utilization, stated Ginlong Solis through a press release. For this reason, expanding the margin of distributed photovoltaic energy generation would be beneficial for industrial sector operations, said Sergio Rodríguez, Latin American Director, Ginlong Solis.

Currently, Mexican regulations only allow distributed generation (DG) of up to 499kW, which is why industrialists in the country have also expressed support for increasing this limit for new and existing plants. According to the renewable energy company, expanding this limit could "help a significant percentage of factories install photovoltaic systems for specific areas or even for production."

The Ginlong Solis executive cited the legislation adopted in Brazil, which allows up to 5MW in DG, "thus broadening the spectrum of companies that can install this type of energy."

The Mexican states that attract the highest investment inflow due to nearshoring are the northern states of Nuevo Leon (50%) and Coahuila (11%), as well as Yucatan (8%) in the southeast of the country. The statement also mentions Chihuahua (7%) and Mexico City (6%).

As one of the states where companies and factories of various sectors are settling, Nuevo Leon is experiencing an increase in electricity demand. According to official information from CFE, in Nuevo Leon, 90% of the electricity supply to companies is provided by the Mexican state-owned electric company. Nevertheless, 13% of the companies located in industrial parks in the northern Mexican locality have installed solar roofs and photovoltaic systems under the DG scheme in the country.

Given this context, Rodríguez highlighted that his company is introducing sixth-generation solar inverters to Mexico that already consider energy storage for DG, "which enhances this sector."