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Diversifying Foothold in Mexico's Pv Projects

Baltasar Balaguer - MASPV ENERGY
Regional Project Engineering Manager

STORY INLINE POST

Fri, 02/01/2019 - 13:27

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Q: What makes MASPV ENERGY the ideal partner for PV developers?

A: Our primary advantage is the long-standing experience and expertise MASPV ENERGY amassed through the projects it has developed and built on a global scale since its inception, including projects located in Spain, Japan, China, Panama, Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico. By establishing local offices in some of these locations, we strengthened our technical muscle to design tailor-made PV power plants based on the location and specific client we worked with. The company also provides patented, in-house products, such as our fixMag mounted structure for PV panels, eliminating the need for drilling because of its magnetized fixation technology. It drastically decreases mounting times and involves zero maintenance costs. MASPV ENERGY also developed a lightweight, flexible panel with the same power output of its rigid, heavier competition. The common solar panel weight is 23kg, while our product only weighs 8kg. We are looking to showcase both solutions in Mexico’s PV market.

Q: What other technological developments are you looking to showcase in Mexico?

A: True to its innovative core, MASPV ENERGY is pulling out all the stops in building up its differentiating factors in Mexico’s PV market. Added to our flexible, lightweight modules and our fixMag solution, we also want to demonstrate the comparative advantages of our PVpowered electric vehicle charging stations. We are also planning to introduce a containerized solution with premounted panels and generators for emergency situations, such as power outages.
Q: What project best illustrates this added value?

A: We have a 250MW in Panama that was developed and built using our latest fixMag and lightweight solar panel solutions. In Mexico, our first PV project, a 1MW PV plant in Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, was developed in 2012 together with MICROM, part of the CONDUMEX group. We were involved in PV projects in Mexico as early as 2010, opening a local office in 2013. From then on, our project portfolio developed in the southern region of Mexico, including Yucatan and Quintana Roo. It primarily consists of commercial and industrial PV projects. We are also looking to set a foothold in the country’s long-term electricity auction projects, either with CFE or with Triple-A IPPs. We are already working on a 125MW PV project in Mexicali and another 25MW PV plant in Yucatan.

Q: What is your assessment of Mexico’s PV value chain?

A: To strengthen our market foothold in Mexico, MASPV ENERGY is drafting cooperation agreements with local electricity companies. We have already signed strategic agreements, expanding our presence to Puebla, Queretaro, Yucatan, Torreon, Tampico and Veracruz. The companies we chose to partner with have 20-30 years of experience in Mexico’s electricity market, yet PV technology is a rather new concept for them. We are contributing with our own expertise, providing training sessions on optimal dimensioning practices, cost calculation and efficient and durable installation methods.

Q: How is MASPV ENERGY adapting to decreasing package prices as showcased in the long-term electricity auctions?

A: The prices showcased in the long-term electricity auctions are tightening the margins of the stakeholders involved in each awarded project. MASPV ENERGY participated in the first two long-term electricity auctions but did not enter the third. We are looking to participate with projects located in Yucatan. In our particular case, we are diversifying our project pipeline, combining utility-scale projects with private PPAs signed with AAA qualified users with intensive energy consumption where our expertise can provide 20-25 percent of savings compared to CFE electricity prices. We are confident the CELs requirement will propel the industrial and commercial niches, where we want to cement a solid foothold.
 

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