Mexico to invest 4 bln USD in wind power in next 2 years

Mexico's wind energy sector plans to invest 4 billion U.S. dollars in new wind projects over the next two years.

Leopoldo Rodriguez, president of the Mexican Wind Energy Association (AMDEE), told a press conference that the projected investments would allowed the country to add 2,500 megawatts of generation capacity by the end of 2018.

According to AMDEE, Mexico currently had a wind generation capacity of 3,500 megawatts across almost 40 wind parks in 11 states. 10 of these wind parks are operated by Mexican companies, while the rest have been invested by companies from Spain, Italy, Denmark, the U.S., the UK and China, among other countries.

The AMDEE president said the construction of each new wind park would generate around 300 jobs, while the operation of each would only create around 40 jobs since they are largely automated.

Rodriguez added that the future of such projects should become clearer during the Mexico WindPower 2017 conference, to be held in Mexico City on Mar. 1-2.

The Mexican government's energy target is to make wind power capacity reach 12,000 megawatts by 2021, as part of a broader challenge to have 35 percent of electricity coming from clean sources by then. Endit