Mexico Expects Solar to Surge as Country Seeks to Meet 2026 Goal

Mexico expects installations of photovoltaic panels to surge 150-fold by 2020, driven by the country’s “abundant” solar resource, according to the Ministry of Energy.

Installed capacity will increase to 1,500 megawatts by the end of the decade from 10 megawatts connected to the grid now, Claudia Hernandez, the ministry’s director or renewables, said at a conference in Mexico City today. That will require about 31.4 billion pesos ($2.46 billion) in investment. Wind capacity will increase 10-fold to about 12,000 megawatts over the same period, she said.

The growth will help Mexico meet a goal of getting 35 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2026, up from about 23 percent now including large hydroelectric plants.

The government approved the goal in April 2011 and plans to set targets for specific generation technologies this year, she said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marc Roca in London at mroca6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net