Will Mexico Meet Its Clean Energy Goal?
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Will Mexico Meet Its Clean Energy Goal?

Photo by:   Matthew Henry on Unsplash
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María Fernanda Barría By María Fernanda Barría | Junior Journalist and Industry Analyst - Tue, 03/09/2021 - 13:38

Mexico will not meet its goal of clean electricity generation by 2024, according to calculations by the Ministry of Energy (SENER). The Program for the Development of the National Electric System 2020-2034 (PRODESEN) estimates that the goal will be reached one year after the end of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term and not when determined by the federal administration. CFE also presented its 2021-2025 business plan, where it detailed that it will not invest in renewable energy plants during the current administration.

On Mar. 27, 2015, Mexico made a commitment before the UN to address global warming with a series of measures aimed at mitigating polluting emissions. According to the National Inventory of Greenhouse Gases and Compounds 2015, electricity generation is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Mexico. Published in 2015 following the Energy Reform, the Energy Transition Law establishes that SENER would set a minimum clean energy participation target of 25 percent by 2018, 30 percent by 2021 and 35 percent by 2024. The country had also pledged its commitment to generate 35 percent of its electricity through non-fossil fuel methods by 2024, following the Paris Agreement.

According to PRODESEN, the country will only generate 32 percent of its electricity through clean sources, three percentage points below the committed target. Moreover, this will not be possible before 2025. For different analysts, the current situation is an attack on renewable energies. “Energy policy in the country has never been able to implement an energy transition that is fair and sustainable. The administration is going in the opposite direction,” Pablo Ramírez, Energy Specialist at Greenpeace, told Milenio.

This is not the first time that the country has failed to meet its environmental goals. The latest data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicates that the country only generates around 23 percent of its electricity in plants that do not use fossil fuels.

Photo by:   Matthew Henry on Unsplash

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