Legal Certainty for a Competitive Economy

Despite its tremendous potential, an overall positive performance of the long-term electricity auctions and the increased number of players across the value chain, the Mexican renewable energy market is in its early years and the private sector still has concerns about the new intricacies inherent to power production and the commercialization of energy surpluses.

“CANACINTRA has taken a stand in favor of simple and clear rules,” says Enrique Guillén, President of the National Chamber for the Industry of Transformation (CANACINTRA). “To raise Mexico’s competitiveness levels, it is necessary that regulations are improved, among other factors.” About 14 percent of CANACINTRA’s members are involved in the development of renewable energies. They face the issues that a relatively new market introduces.

According to Guillén, the second-largest group of companies within the chamber comprises power generating and supply organizations with specific worries. “The main concern of generators is in the definition of new energy cogeneration mechanisms that allow the commercialization of power surpluses,” he says. “On the other hand, suppliers want legal certainty that aids the closing of project construction contracts to kick-start the production chains where they work.” Finally, those companies transitioning, or planning to transition, to renewable energies by adjusting their production systems are concerned about mechanisms and certifications. These processes must be gradual and entail investment costs that let interested companies phase in their transition according to their capital availability, says Guillén. “As a consultative organism to the Mexican government, CANACINTRA is in charge of taking these concerns before the appropriate institutions.”

The chamber takes several steps to meet its mission and Guillén lays out three lines of action that CANACINTRA follows. It has support programs for member companies to transition into PV or wind energies through an assessment of the best options, depending on the sector in which they work, their size and their consumption needs. A second line is an agreement with the Mexican Association of Energy Efficiency Companies (AMENEER) to both generate clean energies and maximize the efficiency of industrial processes to guarantee a cut in energy consumption. Last is the recognition from the sector’s authorities — the Ministry of Energy, CRE and CENACE — of CANACINTRA as an economic unit able to market energy. “Some of CANACINTRA’s members generate electricity on their own and can sell their surplus to those companies on the demand side,” says Guillén. “Through integration, we want to link supply and demand companies that are part of the chamber."