Reforma*
Sergio Lozano, Nov. 19, 2022
Mexico's attractiveness for investments in renewable energy has plummeted during the first four years of the six-year administration [of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, aka AMLO] from 8th to 63rd place, a fall of 55 places!
The BloombergNEF organization placed the country in 63rd place out of 107 developing countries in its "Climatescope 2022" report. This is 25 places lower than in the analysis presented last year when Mexico ranked 38th.
It was in 2019 that Mexico dropped from the "top ten", in which it had been in comparable studies since 2014. Before the start of the López Obrador administration, Climatescope pointed out that Mexico was a leading destination for the development of renewable energies, thanks to the opening of the sector to foreign investment that occurred with the 2013 Energy Reform.
MV Note: Before the Reform, accomplished in 2013 under the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018), all exploration, extraction and production of petroleum products was under the control of the government-owned company, PEMEX, and all production and distribution of electricity was under the government-owned Federal Commission for Electricity (CFE). These were the last two of myriad state-owned companies that had embodied a policy of state-control of the national economy begun after the Mexican Revolution [1910-1917] in the 1920s and 30s. Beginning in the 1980s, due to a major crisis in its international debt, the Mexican government was forced to sell its companies to private investors and open its marketplace to foreign businesses.
Now, the 2022 report points out that Mexico has not set a goal of zero net emissions or a carbon strategy for the long term.
The report states,
"The progress of the reform in the market and the support for renewable energies has stalled under the Presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. AMLO has eliminated the energy reform and has sought to block the growth of renewable energies with the aim of supporting the state-owned CFE."
The report notes that since he took office, AMLO has canceled the successful renewable energy auction program in Mexico, sought to dilute the Clean Energy Certificates (CELs) market, set aside its objectives, and eliminated the tax benefits received by wind and solar plants. The report warns,
"Ominously, AMLO has advanced with regulations destined to block the participation of renewable energies in the system."
The report indicates that energy in Mexico continues to be heavily tilted towards fossil fuels, with natural gas, oil and coal together accounting for 65 percent of capacity and 72 percent of generation in 2021.
Hydroelectric plants accounted for 8 percent of generation, and renewable energies reached 16 percent.
The report highlights that globally--and in contrast to the government directives in Mexico--among all emerging markets surveyed, 92 percent now have long-term clean energy goals,
It adds that, globally, 56 percent of emerging markets have adopted policies to conduct investment auctions for clean energy supply contracts.
The "Climatescope 2022" report bases its results on more than 100 quantitative and qualitative indicators in each country regarding their readiness to receive investments in clean energy.
Chile scored highest, in part because it managed to hit its 2025 clean energy target five years early and has increased it to 40 percent of clean energy generation by 2030. Other Latin American countries that now appear within the "top ten" are Colombia, in fourth place, and Brazil, in ninth.
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