The desert floor of Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, has been hiding one of López Obrador’s government’s most ambitious green projects for months. In the middle of nowhere, under the scorching sun and between heavy machinery, dozens of rows of Chinese solar panels are waiting to be turned on. At his side, a handful of engineers oversees the final details before the inauguration of the first phase of the largest photovoltaic park in Latin America and the seventh largest in the world after its completion: 1,000 megawatts of power over an area of 2,000 hectares. Although now there is only a horizon of sand, dunes and biznagas.
After 13 months of planning and construction, the first phase of this solar array will begin commercial operation next April, thriving under the protection of the desert sun in an arid landscape and extreme climate. In this first phase, only 120 megawatts will be connected. So far, $840 million of the total budgeted $1,600 million has been invested. The facility is owned by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) and the State of Sonora. Phase one also envisages the construction of an associated 25-kilometer transmission line that will deliver the generated electricity to the states of Sonora, Chihuahua and Sinaloa.
To kick off the go-ahead for the federal administration’s green flagship project, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard this Thursday invited ambassadors and diplomats to experience first-hand the plane covered in solar cells, which with its symmetry breaks the harmony of the tourist complexes that unfold along the coastal community. Accompanied by US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo, and a large diplomatic corps from 80 different countries, the federal official boasted that Sonora is a regional benchmark for sustainable projects being developed in the country. “Today’s message is that Sonora is the main producer of solar energy in Latin America and that it will be the main generator of new electric mobility initiatives in the country in the coming months,” he explained.
Sonora has many hours of sunshine — it concentrates about 20% of all photovoltaic systems in the country — but it is one of the areas with the greatest electricity congestion, meaning it produces more than it consumes and can ship to other regions. This combination depresses prices in the market. However, the governor of the state, Alfonso Durazo, when presenting the progress of the project this Thursday, has insisted on the profitability of the photovoltaic park, even pushing that this megapark, which in its final phase will grow a generation 1 gigawatt, It will be the first of five photovoltaic parks being built in the state.
US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo and Secretary of State Marcelo Ebrard tour the facilities. RAQUEL CUNHA (AFP)
The project also included 400 miles of transmission lines, four substations, and 192 megawatts of installed battery capacity to provide backup services. The government has paid particular attention to the exit routes that photovoltaic generation will have, one of the main questions raised by experts on the project, who do not doubt the state’s energy potential but fear overload due to the small power distribution infrastructure. However, the central administration assures that the high-voltage lines will be built at the same time as the solar cells are installed.
Juan Antonio Fernández, Corporate Director of Strategic Planning at CFE, explained that the second phase of the first phase started last September and is expected to be completed in June 2024, stressing that this generation will be the first to achieve interconnection between power grids system of Baja California Sur with the rest of the country. The project promoters of the photovoltaic park have also pointed out the 2,000 jobs that this initiative will create for a community of around 62,000 inhabitants who live mainly from fishing and tourism.
In a government that has at the same time encouraged generation of electricity from fossil sources, from combined cycle power plants, the development of this photovoltaic mega-park represents a leap in solar power generation in Mexico. Currently, solar power accounts for just 6.1% of the total of the entire power generation fleet, with a total of 5,955 megawatts of installed capacity compared to the more than 33,000 combined-cycle installed megawatts, according to Energy Department figures. After years of tight bets on hydrocarbons and impediments to private investment in the energy sector, the next launch of this green project seems like a change of direction by the federal government to promote green energy.
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