Mexico & Central American Clean Energy Investment Skyrockets

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A plentiful supply of renewable resources, and a need for a more economical approach to power generation, is fueling strong momentum in clean energy investment in Mexico and the six main countries of Central America, says a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

In fact, Mexico is already on track to burst through its record investment of $2.4 billion in 2010, having already invested $1.3 billion in the first half of 2014 (an impressive figure, considering the country invested a total of $1.6 billion during the whole of 2013).

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) predicts that “significant further increases in activity in both wind and solar are forecast in the next two years” for Mexico.

“One of the striking things about this region is the very high exposure to expensive oil- and diesel-based generation,” said Yayoi Sekine, Latin America analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “This makes up 20% of installed capacity in Mexico and 42% in Central America.

“Yet these countries have unusually good wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro-electric power resources. Using these to meet much of the additional electricity demand in coming years, and replacing that costly oil and diesel power, makes sense. It is becoming a key plank in the region’s energy policies.”

The BNEF report found that investment in clean energy for Central America — representing Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama — added up to $317 million for the first half of 2014, currently just under the pace needed to equal 2013’s total of $1 billion.

“However,” BNEF notes, “the drivers of wind, solar and geothermal investment are even stronger in those countries than in Mexico, and this year’s political changes have mostly been positive for renewables.”

According to a detailed analysis of the project pipelines for both Mexico and Central America, over 1 GW of wind power capacity is expected to be added this year, with another 1.3 GW possible for both 2015 and 2016.

These figures fall in line with what we have been seeing over the past two years, with less prominent regions and nations the world over moving towards cleaner, more renewable, power sources as a means to adjust their own climate footprint, while simultaneously striving for more economically efficient energy sources.