Paving the Way to a Greener, Smarter, More Flexible Grid in Mexico

Mexico’s power sector is transforming to become more reliable, financially robust, and cleaner. Through participation in the 21st Century Power Partnership, Mexican energy policymakers, regulators, and system operators can tap into the expertise of the international power sector community to address critical questions and challenges such as variable renewable grid integration, power system planning, and distributed generation deployment. Mexico has created a multi-stakeholder steering group to coordinate power sector transformation activities. To date, capacity building activities include:

• Technical studies and modeling on renewable integration, grid planning, distributed energy, and demand response.
• Support for Mexican energy reform implementation such as development of a wholesale market monitor and interconnection manuals. A wholesale market monitor takes responsibility for electric market surveillance so that the energy market functions properly. Interconnection manuals provide guidance on how generators (both renewable and conventional) interconnect to the electric grid.
• Staff exchanges for system operators, grid operators, and regulators to learn about grid integration best practices.
• Multilateral peer-to-peer workshops focused on grid integration best practices and information exchange between energy stakeholders.
• Co-authorship of thought leadership reports to showcase various clean energy topics in Mexico so other jurisdictions can learn from Mexico’s power sector transformation experience.

Highlighted below, and profiled in this case study, are good practices that support power sector transformation in Mexico.

• Planning is an essential element of power sector transformation. Regional and national-level grid planning and power system roadmaps can accelerate next-generation power sector planning.
• Operational support is another critical ingredient for power sector transformation. Grid operators need technical support on how to integrate renewable energy and operate the grid safely and reliably.
• Robust public policies and regulations can enable clean distributed generation and smart grid deployment.