Cementos Moctezuma Invests in Own Solar Park

Mexican cement producer Cementos Moctezuma is planning to invest US$10 million in a solar park that will supply one of its factories. The project would represent lower emissions and savings on energy costs compared to sourcing from CFE, reported Forbes.

The project will have a total capacity of 10MW, located in a 52ha area and will have between 32,000 and 33,000 panels using monocrystalline technology, as well as 61 inverters. The company hopes that the project will have a life cycle of 30 years after it is completed in the coming nine months.

“The energy generated will be used at the Cerritos plant to substitute a percentage of the electricity purchased from CFE, which is produced with fossil fuels and emits more greenhouse gases,” the company said to Forbes. Excess electricity generated form the plant will be made available to other users in the area if they desire to switch away from CFE, as well. “Thanks to the development of the project, the emission of polluting particles into the atmosphere, including sulfur, CO2, CO and lead will be avoided,” the company said.

Cementos Moctezuma follows other companies in Mexico’s commercial and industrial sectors, where more and more players are signing Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs) or installing their own energy generation plants. The benefits are clear: costs can be saved while companies simultaneously meet a growing need to become more sustainable. Climate change increasingly finds itself on the global agenda, with both governments and consumers demanding commitment from major players in the private industry. Energy generation provides excellent room for improvement, as past figures from SENER suggest that the generation of electricity is the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Mexico.

Mexico has a commitment with the UN to reduce its emissions to a level no higher than 139MTCO2e by 2030. Moreover, the country has committed to source approximately 30 percent of its energy from clean sources by 2024. Recently, the viability of this milestone has been questioned by industry experts as the López Obrador administration increases its focus on oil and gas in the country in an attempt to rescue state-owned PEMEX and CFE.

Regardless of government policy, the private industry offers many different avenues for companies to take. Smaller commercial and industrial players can rely on innovative financing schemes offered by the likes of Finsolar and Energía Real. For larger players, companies such as First Solar offer to construct solar projects beyond the distributed generation threshold of 0.5MW. For the largest users, mutually beneficial PPAs can be signed directly with developers of big wind or solar farms. Companies like Bimbo and Grupo México have even developed their own power plants.