mexico renews itself - ProMéxico

30 Negocios ProMéxico Negocios ProMéxico 31
Siliken,
Basking in
the Sun of a
Burgeoning
Business
The Spanish-based multinational Siliken
has found in Mexico a sunny future for its
photovoltaic solar panel business.
____
by sandra roblágui
photo courtesy of siliken
Manufacturers of solar panels are gathering around
Mexico like moths to a flame. Not only does the country
offer competitive manufacturing conditions and
skilled labor for this business sector, but it has high
levels of solar radiation and a communications network that facilitates
distribution on both the domestic and export markets, says
Manuel Vegara Llanes, Director of Business Development in Latin
America for the Spanish-based multinational Siliken.
This explains why the company has opted to expand its production
facility in Tijuana, a city on Mexico’s northwest border with
the US, and is currently working on a large-scale project for the
construction and operation of a solar farm in Durango. Siliken also
plans to manufacture equipment and components for the domestic
and international markets.
Durango Solar is the name of the solar farm that will have an
installed capacity of 100 MW, making it the largest of its kind in
the world and Siliken’s most important project in Mexico, says
Vegara Llanes.
A start-up investment of 70 million usd will get the farm up and
running with an initial capacity of 30 MW, after which two business
areas will be added: a facility for the manufacture of photovoltaic
solar panels in Durango and a solar farm in the municipality
of Canatlán, also in Durango, one of the country’s largest states.
The Durango Solar project enjoys the support of the state government,
which has granted it the use of 303 hectares in the J. Guadalupe
Aguilera cooperative in Canatlán under a gratuitous loan agreement.
Siliken is in no doubt that the farm will be a success and is already
negotiating the sale of the green energy it will generate with
major public and private sector consumers, in addition to long-term
electricity supply agreements with large Mexican corporations.
Durango Solar is a new venture, completely independent of Siliken’s
existing plant in Tijuana, Baja California, which remains the logistical
arm of its component manufacturing operations in America.
This is where the company first began operating in Mexico in
February 2011, with two production lines for the manufacture of
shelter-type photovoltaic modules. Shortly afterwards, three new
production lines were added to meet demand. These five production
lines, which employ about 300 people and are currently working
at their full combined capacity of 100 MW, were installed at a
total cost of 25 million usd.
One of these production lines is specially designed to manufacture
large photovoltaic modules whose increased capacity –above
300 MW– reduces installation costs, since fewer are needed to
generate the same amount of electricity.
In Mexico, Siliken is working closely with agencies like
ProMéxico to attract foreign investment, and has its own sales
team that renders sales and post-sale services to installers of photovoltaic
systems.
According to Vegara Llanes, “Siliken is active in the manufacture
of Mexican-made renewable technologies, the development
of solar farms for the generation of electricity and the distribution
of photovoltaic products.”
Durango Solar is the name
of the solar farm that will
have an installed capacity
of 100 MW, making it the
largest of its kind in the
world and Siliken’s most
important project in Mexico,
says Vegara Llanes.
Just recently, he continues, the company was selected as the
exclusive supplier of 8,700 panels (2.5 MW) for Spanish multinational
Iberdrola’s solar farm in Cerro Prieto, Baja California.
The farm will be run by the Federal Electricity Commission
(CFE), which supplies electricity to most of the country, and will
serve as a benchmark for parallel future projects. “This is the first
time a project of such dimensions has been undertaken in Mexico, so
it will be a learning experience for both us and the CFE,” says Vegara.
Meanwhile, Siliken aims to take an even larger slice of the
Mexican market for photovoltaic products and the development of
large-scale solar systems for the generation and sale of electricity.
In Vegara’s opinion, if Siliken continues to be in orbit, it could
well become the undisputed leader of Mexico’s solar energy sector,
while contributing to the development of a green-jobs industry.
Siliken is already contributing to the country’s sustainable
development alongside the National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute
(INFONAVIT), for which it has developed a photovoltaic
kit at an accessible cost of approximately 750 usd to the final user,
allowing millions of families to save on their electricity bills by
simply installing a solar roof panel.
This is just the beginning of what is shaping up to be a sunny
future for Siliken in a country where it has received a warm welcome,
and where the possibilities are as infinite as the universe,
beyond the solar system. n
www.siliken.com