mexico renews itself - ProMéxico

40 Negocios ProMéxico Negocios ProMéxico 41
An Agent
of the Wind
for the Benefit
of the Planet
In Mexico there are at least 120 sites with wind energy potential, and
laws facilitating investment in this area are developing fast. SoWiTec
is one company that is starting to reap these benefits.
____
by sandra roblágui
photo archive
Mexico has all the necessary ingredients to plant
fields of wind power, the most widespread renewable
energy in the world. The country’s regulatory
environment is at the forefront of Latin America
and makes it possible to establish a successful market. Mexico
also enjoys economic stability and adequate infrastructure for
electricity distribution. Furthermore, the country possesses
some 120 sites suitable for generating thousands of megawatts
(MW) from wind sources, according to the Director of SoWiTec
de México, Alejandro Robles Hüe.
“It is a market with great potential and perfect conditions for a
sustainable renewable energy project,” expressed the executive.
These are the reasons why since 2008, the German company has
been working in Mexico to develop the conditions for generating
5,000 MW, both with their own projects and through partnerships
with other private institutions.
Founded by Frank Hummel in 1993, SoWiTec Group has always
been dedicated to the promotion of renewable energy. It currently
has a presence in the major energy markets around the world, with
offices in Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Peru, Russia,
Uruguay and Mexico. Altogether, around 100 specialists are working
to develop a 35,000 MW capacity.
In Mexico, the electricity that will arise from the company’s wind
farms will light up the homes of about 8 million people.
So what does SoWiTec do exactly? The universe created the
wind, not wind farms, that much is true. The role of the German
company in Mexico is to follow in nature’s footsteps for its own
benefit, and also make money: “Our goal is to find places with wind
power potential,” reveals Robles Hüe.
To make this possible, since 2008 the firm’s specialists have been
traveling the country measuring the strength of the wind and carrying
out projections, environmental impact studies and research into
the electricity-generating potential. Afterwards, they rent the places
where the turbine blades will turn faster, mostly in rural areas.
“We are working all over the country: in Sonora, Chihuahua,
Tamaulipas, the Bajío region, Campeche…,” adds SoWiTec de
México’s Director. He recognizes that the process of negotiation
with the landowners where wind power has potential is a long one,
as many of them never imagined that the wind that rakes the grass
on their properties could be used to generate electricity. “We are
well-accepted in the field because we include a number of specialists,”
says Robles Hüe. In most of the common lands and small
properties SoWiTec has rented, it occupies less than 5% of the
area and, in turn, repairs or creates roads that benefit the owners
of those tracts of land.
The prestige of the company has won them the support of lending
wind turbines to institutions that are willing to finance the business
of generating power through them.
In early 2012, Santander Bank announced financial backing
for the installation of four SoWiTec wind farms in Mexico. With a
capacity to generate between 650 and 850 MW in total, the projects
will be completed in 2014, in the states of San Luis Potosí (160 MW),
Nuevo León (200 MW) and Coahuila (340 MW, with two projects),
all in northern Mexico. Together this will generate electricity to
supply about 1.3 million people.
Through Santander Capital Structuring (SCS), the agency responsible
for capital investments in renewable energy projects,
energy efficiency and climate change, the Spanish-owned bank will
invest all the capital required to develop these farms, right up to the
“ready to build” stage.
SCS and SoWiTec de México will each retain 50% of the profits
from the project, which will operate under an electricity self-sufficiency
scheme and that, once ready, will be sold to long-term investors,
Santander has reported.
In addition to this lender, the German energy multinational is
also working with New Energy Clean Energy Mexico (ENEL), on
projects that will be ready in 2015, generating a total of 1,800 MW at
various sites in Mexico.
“A lot of work has been done and there is more to come,” says
Alejandro Robles Hüe: “ In Mexico, wind is a new technology, with
almost 1,200 MW installed, mostly in the region of the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec, Oaxaca in the southeast. As the sites evolve, demand
will boost growth. We’ve just gotten started.”
Since 2008 the firm’s
specialists have been
traveling the country
measuring the strength of
the wind and carrying out
projections, environmental
impact studies and
research into the electricitygenerating
potential.
The Director of SoWiTec de México expects that over the coming
years, Mexico will see large private capital investments in renewable
energy, of which wind will comprise 30% or 40% of the total.
“It’s the ideal terrain; wind abounds and the laws of the country are
focusing on the involvement of private companies.”
According to the executive, those who are most interested in using
wind power are big companies like Cemex, Bimbo, Wal-Mart and
Coca Cola, which have corporate mandates to purchase renewable
energy. It is expected that in the years to come green electricity will
also reach small and medium enterprises and ordinary households.
There is no question about it. The winds are surely blowing in the
right direction for Mexico. n
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