SEDECO Presents Energy Transition Observations for Mexico City

On June 30, Mexico City’s Ministry of Economic Development (SEDECO), the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and Climate Initiative Mexico (ICM) presented a 216-page report titled Observations on the Energy Transition in Mexico City, to promote the energy transition and its public policy in the capital.

The organizations explained that this document is aimed at public and private companies, researchers, scientists, and analysts, who will be able to find updated indicators regarding energy use and strategies that the government should implement in its decision-making. For example, the document reports that one of the most significant challenges that the government of Mexico City faces is the capital’s high dependency on fossil fuels, which amounts to 97.7 percent of the energy consumption in the city. Accordingly, the measures presented in this report aim to boost the transition to sustainable fuels.

This document covers diverse topics such as the gender perspective, equality in the energy sector and the technical potential that renewable energy has in Mexico City’s environmental conditions. It also presents a detailed analysis of energy consumption habits in different productive sectors and discusses distributed generation (DG). 

The diagnosis highlights some of the main actions being carried implemented, as well as others that are still under development and therefore should be continued during the next administration. For example, the Ciudad Solar project, the Solid Wastes project, the Polluting Vehicles Program (PVC) and a switch to sustainable public transport need more years to be completed.

The observations provide six strategic points that the energy transition should be based on further: creating and maintaining an energy information-based system, incentivizing diverse measures toward energy efficiency, promoting investments in renewable energy sources, promoting research and education regarding the energy transition, opting for less-polluting transportation and reducing energy poverty.

Fadlala Akabani Hneide, Director, SEDECO, emphasized the importance of the initiative carried out with support from SENER and CFE, as Mexico City currently serves as the benchmark of the energy transition in the country. “With this diagnosis, we are able to understand the need to implement the Ciudad Solar strategy, with which we further the sustainable development of SMEs to promote competition and reduce carbon emissions,” said Hneide.

Immanuel Brand, Cooperation Advisor, the German Embassy in Mexico, explained that both Germany and Mexico have shared interests and goals to develop renewable energy generation projects. Therefore, the embassy feels a responsibility to ensure that these guidelines come to fruition in the shape of public policies.

Adriana Aragón, Director, the GIZ Energy Transition Support Program in Mexico (TrEM), emphasized the importance of joint initiatives between the public and private sectors.

GIZ and the Mexican government have cooperated on various occasions. Earlier this year, they presented a roadmap focused on developing DG for Mexican communities.