Photovoltaic solar energy (PV) will lead the new Mexican energy matrix

Photovoltaics is expected to lead capacity additions between 2023 and 2037, although it does not detail the sources of the necessary investments.

Photovoltaic solar energy generation in Mexico will lead, far above other technologies, the increases in installed capacity in Mexico, since according to the Ministry of Energy (Sener) the set of new large installations and distributed generation will contribute 47.23% of the total additions of capacity between 2023 and 2037.

In fact, only from large solar parks between 2023 and 2026 there will be capacity additions of 30.6% of the total of new plants for electricity generation in the country, but between 2027 and 2037 their contribution to the new capacity will be 37%, well above any other technology.
According to the Electricity Prospective published in February by the governing body of energy policy, in 2022, the capacity interconnected to the national transmission network and the general electrical distribution network of the country of the different permit holders was 87,130 megawatts (MW), registering a growth of 1.14% compared to the 86,153 megawatts registered in 2021, derived from the addition of 1,485 megawatts in 2022 with a penetration mainly of combined cycle technologies with 772 megawatts and photovoltaic with 580 megawatts.

This means that 51% of the capacity additions came from combined cycles, while 39% was new photovoltaic capacity.

Although it is worth remembering that between 2021 and 2022, in terms of real generation, clean energy in the country was reduced by 1.8%, going from 88.8 to 87.2 terawatt hours, which is partially attributed to the drop in electricity generation. wind and solar photovoltaic energy. These had decreases of 3.6% and 4.6%, respectively.

In the short term, by 2026, the increase in solar generation if only interconnected parks are considered, will be only below that of natural gas combined cycles, whose contribution to new capacity additions will be 31.2 percent. Although photovoltaic distributed generation, which is mainly installed as solar roofs, will have 9.18% new capacity.

But in the long term, new photovoltaic installations in parks are projected to provide new capacity much higher than other sources: 37%, and it is also contemplated that distributed generation – which is produced near consumption centers and does not use the grid national transmission – will have a 14 percent participation in the additions.