Mexico’s environment ministry Semarnat refused a permit to the 8.4bn Peso (US$422mn), Mrida mixed cycle project in Yucatn peninsula.
Semarnat stated that the Iberdrola project did not comply with Mexico’s general environment protection law and local environmental requirements.
These include not having a plan to minimize displacement of flora or fauna in an area with an unstable, critical ecological status.
Semarnat stated that Iberdrola could revise and file again for approval. The original filing was made January 2021. This meant that the decision took 14 month.
Iberdrola’s subsidiary Iberdrola Energa Monterrey owns the project. The total installed capacity would be 579MW.
In recent years, the Spanish firm has had to deal with numerous government agencies regarding regulatory issues. CRE, the energy regulator in charge of transferring its operations from an old self-supply program to the wholesale electricity market has prevented Nuevo Len’s 500MW combined-cycle plant from being able to continue operation.
The company was also under scrutiny by CFE, the public utility CFE, and customs agency SAT. These have cited failures of the company to follow its construction schedule. CRE in February stated that it was evaluating penalizing them for alleged irregularities in electricity sales.
President Andrs Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), has also criticized Iberdrola for profiting from an economic system that favors private firms to the detriment public firms like CFE.
The key proposal he made to reverse this trend was a constitutional amend that was approved by the lower house on Sunday. The text, which was supported by a majority legislative body, but required a two-thirds supermajority vote to pass, sought to eliminate independent sector regulators. It also made CFE the sole buyer/seller on the Mexican electricity market.
This is a victory for politics because we move forward with our fight against simulating, AMLO said to the press after his flagship initiative was defeated by legislators with 223 votes in favor and 275 against. It is amazing to see the self-described representatives of the people voting in support of Iberdrola. We will never see this again. It’s a moment of greatness.
