A “new energy paradigm” is developing in Mexico under the leadership of President Enrique Peña Nieto. The Energy Secretariat of Mexico recently presented guidelines for the country’s planned electricity market auction; the process will include a call for bids in the coming months and the award of contracts in March 2016. On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquin Coldwell announced that private bidders will compete to win 20-year Clean Energy Certificates (CELS) and 15-year contracts for generation projects of any kind. Mexico is creating a market for tradable CELs as part of the historic 2013 electricity sector restructuring, which ended the monopoly by state-owned power company Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) on electricity generation, transmission and distribution activities. The secretary recalled that currently only CFE sells power to residential and commercial users and therefore on this occasion will be the only buyer of energy from companies that are issued the certificates.
“But in the future (new wholesale) suppliers will be able to participate to acquire energy,” Coldwell said.
