The opportunity
It is a promising time for Mexican renewables. After the energy
sector was monopolised by the state electricity company CFE,
limiting private participation for more than 75 years, a much
awaited constitutional reform law was approved in December 2013
which will liberalise the sector for private investment and
transform the power sector into a competitive wholesale market. A
comprehensive package of 21 secondary laws were then enacted in
August 2014. Accordingly, overall investment in the sector rose in
2014 to $2.4 billion, as reported by the US International Trade
Administration.
The main instrument governing the renewable energy sector in
Mexico is the Law for the Development of Renewable Energy and
Energy Transition Financing (LAERFTE), enacted in 2008. Under this
law, Mexico implemented the Estrategia Nacional de Energía
2013–2027, which establishes that 35 per cent of energy
should derive from renewable sources by 2024 (i.e. wind,
