Despite the pressure for the country to meet the goal of generating 35% clean electricity next year, in 2022 the country took a step back and the share fell from 27.5% to 26.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that between 2017 and 2022 the generation of clean energy in the country increased 10.3%, between 2021 and 2022 it decreased by 1.8%, derived from lower production of wind and photovoltaic sources, according to an analysis of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This setback caused the share of electricity generated through technologies with a low carbon footprint to fall last year to 26.1% of the total, from 27.5% in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the corollary of the cancellation in 2019 of the auctions for the purchase and sale of energy by the government and large private market participants, as can be seen in the data of the IMCO Energy Monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we do not accelerate the deployment of low-emission energy, the country will become a less competitive one, particularly in a context where providing clean energy is as important as the reliability of the electricity system or energy prices,\u201d he said. he assured the institute in its note on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to data from the National Center for Energy Control (Cenace), in the last six years the generation of electricity in Mexico grew 10.3%, going from 302.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2017 to 333.8 TWh in 2022. This Growth is attributed almost entirely to the increase in electricity generation through clean technologies. Between 2017 and 2022, clean energy increased by 48.4%, going from 58.7 to 87.2 TWh, while energy generated from fossil fuels grew only 1.1%, going from 244, 0 to 246.6 TWh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, between 2021 and 2022, clean energy generation in the country fell by 1.8% from 88.8 to 87.2 TWh, which is partially attributed to the fall in wind and solar photovoltaic power generation. These had decreases of 3.6% and 4.6%, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has also implied a reduction in the participation of this kind of energy in the generation matrix of Mexico. In 2022, electricity generated with a low carbon footprint accounted for 26.1% of the total, 1.4 percentage points lower than the proportion observed in 2021, which was 27.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the figure is almost nine percentage points below the target set in national legislation and in the Paris Agreement, which stipulates 35% electricity generation through clean technologies by 2024, notes the IMCO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the six clean energy generation technologies reported by Cenace, which are biomass, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, nucleoelectric and solar photovoltaic, only the nucleoelectric and geothermal generated less electricity in 2022 compared to 2017, as they fell 0.3% and 23.4%, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remaining four technologies had growth rates of between 12.3% in the case of hydroelectric, which went from 31.7 to 35.6 TWh, and 54 times in the case of solar photovoltaic, which was from 0.3 to 16.3 TWh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the IMCO, the growth of generation from hydroelectric plants is not good news in terms of the energy transition, because although it contributes to meeting the goals of clean energy generation, hydroelectric plants have a negative impact in terms of the availability of water in the country. In addition, the generated energy should be used as a reserve and dispatched at times of high demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specifically, variable clean energies, which are purely renewable: solar photovoltaic and wind, presented the highest growth rates during the period analyzed. Between 2017 and 2022, photovoltaic solar energy grew 4,595%, while wind energy grew 94.3%, going from 10.5 to 20.3 TWh. The increase in these two technologies responds to the development of the Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM) and, fundamentally, to the long-term electricity auctions held between 2015 and 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, generation through both types of technology declined between 2021 and 2022, which calls into question Mexico\u2019s compliance with climate change mitigation goals. Wind energy decreased 3.6%, since it went from 21.1 to 20.3 TWh, while solar PV decreased 4.6% (from 17.1 to 16.3 TWh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n