Encouraging PV performance in the country's first Clean Energy Auction prompts GTM to revise its forecast; analysts now expect Mexico to add 646 MW of PV in 2016. Mexico's large-scale solar sector could be transformed this year, forming the bulk of the estimated 646 MW of new PV capacity. Solar PV’s dominance of Mexico’s inaugural Clean Energy Auction – in which it claimed 74% of the contracts offered – has compelled analysts at GTM Research to revise their installation forecasts upwards for 2016 to 646 MW. Last year, Mexico added 104 MW of solar PV, meaning this year’s revised forecast represents a growth [...]

Solar 350 has green lighted the creation of the Mexican SPV (special purpose vehicle) called Solar 350 Baja Cali 1. This is the legal entity is due to hold the development assets of the first of the Mexican Solar projects. Specifically, this is a 60 Mw Project located towards the top of Baja California in Mexico. The plant will service the energy needs of the rapidly developing Baja region and the rapidly increasing industrial base located around the border town of Tijuana. Many of you will know of Tijuana from its reputation as a party town, but the rapid economic development [...]

It’s important not to get too cocky about the health of the renewables industry worldwide. Figures released by the Clean Energy Pipeline organisation this week showed that global clean energy investment enjoyed double digit (14%) growth last year over 2015. But before you pop open the low carbon champers and celebrate another bumper year, the figures are a little misleading. For a start, many of the projects included in the figures have been raising money for years, which means the fact they came to fruition in 2015 makes the numbers look better than they really are. It’s not a sudden flow [...]

January is traditionally a time when we think about fresh starts and making the coming year better than the old one. It’s the time when diet books, quit-smoking services and recruitment companies are at their busiest. And this year, in the renewables sector, it’s also time for a positive change. 2015 saw investment decline in the UK as the last few subsidies and tax breaks ended for a lot of solar and wind (and of course, global emissions kept rising), but 2016 will be different. The outlook is more positive than its been in years. This is because the last-minute COP21 Paris [...]