CFE ‘stops’ the use of green energies in Yucatán; solar energy industry stagnates

Mérida, Yucatán, (April 16, 2021).- Among the businesses that were little affected by the pandemic are those in the clean energy sector, especially solar panels, since it has grown by leaps and bounds, however, it is going through problems that prevent its benefits from reaching more people.

Currently, companies in the sector are dealing with the refusals of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), which does not allow them to connect to the electricity grid, reported the president of the Mexican Association of Renewable Energy and Environment AC, Raúl Asís Monforte González.

“Neither we understand what is happening; in most of the interconnection requests that we ask the CFE, the answer is that the circuit to which we want to connect is already saturated and that it does not have the capacity to receive clean energy. It seems incomprehensible to us because, today, there is not all the penetration that we would like in distributed generation, we need to grow much more, since consumption continues to increase. We believe that the fact that someone generates what they consume energy should not be an obstacle, however, it is being seen”, he said.

CFE’s response has been that the negative depends on several factors such as the gauge of the cables, the transformers in the area where it is to be installed, what the load centers that are close to where the panel is to be consumed, that is if its a home or business. They have to review the requirements, from technical information to specifications on an installation drawing.

“The process is an interconnection request, it is a notice to the CFE that a clean generation project is desired and requests the consent of the agency to be able to connect this new system that will generate energy to the distribution networks that are in the street; from there it is where the Commission makes the capacity analysis and can answer if it approves it or not ”, he explained.

However, there is another issue that prevents a proper installation from being carried out; there is currently a “bottleneck” when asking that the system must already be installed in order for the procedures to begin.

“But many times we finished installing it and at the end, we received a negative response so we have to uninstall the panels and refund the owner; It is an issue that we need to talk with the people of CFE so that they can help us resolve it ”, he added.

The expert reported that greater growth is needed in the installation of solar panels and for this to happen; It is urgent that there be greater agility in the procedures, that it be relatively easy, and that the times established by law to carry out interconnection procedures be met.

Similarly, the growth in interest in clean energy is due to the fact that people have understood that these investments bring benefits both to their families and to the companies that place them.

“Investing in solar panels or in any other means of generating clean energy allows alleviating the family economy, allocating the enormous expense that the payment of electrical energy represents to other things such as health, education, etc. As for the companies, it gives them better competitiveness because in some of them the payment of energy in their list of costs is what covers the most, reducing it to zero or almost zero means greater competitiveness in their sectors ”, he specified.

Monforte González added that those who have decided to make this investment are the main promoters of clean energies because, once they try them, they are satisfied, and there are no people who are not happy, they are all sure that they have made a good investment for what this word of mouth recommendation is the best promotion for the development of these systems.

Source: Sipse