Trends of renewables in Mexico

The Mexican Federal Government through its Secretaria de Energia and the Federal Government owned electrical utilities, Comision Federal de Electricidad and Luz y Fuerza del Centro, are making efforts in order to give electric power to remote villages in Mexico via PV stand alone systems and hybrid systems with PV modules, wind generators, batteries and a back up diesel electric generator. Two papers have been, presented regarding this matter at IEEE meetings named: "Options for Rural Electrification in Mexico" (WPM 91) and "Use of Renewables Sources of Energy in Mexico: Case San Antonio Agua Bendita" (SPM 93). Nowadays we are trying to take advantage of municipal solid waste (MSW) in order to get power from the biogas generated in landfills. The main reason for this is, after NAFTA was signed, the municipal authorities in charge of final disposal of MSW will not be allowed any longer to throw away MSW in open fields. Besides, municipal authorities are also in charge of street lighting systems and they have to pay to the utilities a very high rate (12 cents/kWh). The paper discusses how to dispose properly of MSW, fulfilling what is written in the new Environmental Law, and how to take advantage of this process in order to get power from landfill gas at marginal cost. A power wheeling agreement must be reached with the utility in order to send the power generated at the biogas facility to the street lighting lamps, avoiding the high rate for this purpose.