Renewables to Pay for Interconnection in Baja California Sur
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Renewables to Pay for Interconnection in Baja California Sur

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Cas Biekmann By Cas Biekmann | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Mon, 08/17/2020 - 16:20

CENACE has announced it will no longer interconnect renewable energy power plants to the electrical grid without further investments on the private side if they are located in Baja California Sur. This decision is effective until 2027, reported Diario El Independiente. This case plays a wider role in long-standing issues regarding the role of renewables in Mexico, as well as a historical undersupply of energy in the state.

Mexico’s National Energy Control Center issued this statement as an official response to a request for information regarding interconnection in the state. CENACE indicates that the halt in interconnection is directly related to participants in the wholesale electricity market (WEM) gearing up to pay for their own interconnection costs, wrote BN Americas: “The limit of renewable energies interconnection in Baja California Sur state has a direct relation with investments market participants are ready to carry out for interconnecting to the system.” There are further investments needed to ensure reliability and stability for Baja California Sur and the document mentioned synchronous capacitors with physical inertia, battery banks of higher capacity than the installed capacity in the power plans, and finally monitoring technology which would provide CENACE with reliable forecasting for the energy generation of the renewables, which is hard to predict due to its reliance on ever-changing wind and solar factors.

One of the main issues that affect renewable energy in Baja California is that the state’s grid is fully isolated and thus not connected to Mexico’s national electrical system. CENACE’s and SENER’s assessment of renewable energy further adds to the issue. In April of this year, CENACE cited that renewable energy’s intermittent nature weakens electrical grids. SENER pushed on the same argument with its policy aimed at reliability and stability of the grid on May 15. Both policies received a large number of amparos to halt their effects. Now, CENACE continues to implement its vision in Baja California Sur. In this area, CENACE cites the constant injection capacity of generation to the system, the control of voltage regulation and the margin of rolling reserves to support imbalances between demand and generation as problematic.

Photo by:   blickpixel on Pixabay

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