US-based SunPower has won power purchase agreements totaling 500MW in Mexico’s first electricity power auction.

SunPower

The awards include nearly 400MW in Yucatan and over 100MW in Guanajuato and their respective clean energy certificates.

SunPower secured the right to sign contracts with state-owned Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) for one terawatt-hour of electricity.

According to Mexico’s National Center for Energy Control, SunPower won about 20% of the total energy and 25% of the solar energy awarded from the energy auction.

The company said project development and construction is contingent on factors such as contract implementation.

SunPower president and CEO Tom Werner said: "With more than seven gigawatts of solar power systems around the world using our high performance technology, SunPower has the experience and expertise to deliver reliable, cost-competitive solar power to serve Mexico’s growing energy demand.

"SunPower is proud to have this opportunity to partner with CFE to accelerate Mexico’s transition to a robust clean energy economy."

In December, SunPower signed a long term power purchase agreement to provide 36MW of solar power to Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, a privatized airport group in Mexico and operator of Cancun Airport and eight other airports in southeast Mexico.

The company plans to start construction by the end of this year. Once the project commences operations, the company will provide operations and maintenance services, including monitoring power plant production.

Since its foray into the Mexican market in 2011, SunPower has been producing over 1GW of solar panels at its manufacturing facility in Mexicali.

SunPower has also been the first company to have a Cradle to Cradle Certified Silver designation for its manufacturing practices.


Image: SunPower has won power purchase agreements totaling 500MW in Mexico’s first electricity power auction. Photo: Courtesy of khunaspix/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.