Aiming to use solar power for the so-called Mayan Train, Mexico is crafting a plan to promote state-backed green-energy generation.
Rogelio Jimenez Pons, director-general of the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (Fonatur), said they could begin work on four solar farms this year, including one at Cancun airport and possibly others at Mérida, Campeche and Chetumal.
Solar farms near Tulum, Cozumel and Los Cabos have also been planned this year.
Related: Judge halts Mayan Train construction
A solar push could lift the renewable energy credentials of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose support for fossil fuels has drawn criticism and set him at odds with the new U.S. government, according to the news agency Reuters.
The plan would run by the CFE and draw the bulk of its funding from state development banks, Jimenez Pons said. Profits would be plowed back into local communities, he added.
It all has the potential to add thousands of megawatts of solar capacity, he said. Even with private funding, estimated to top US$1 billion, everything would be under state control, he explained.
Construction of the Cancun airport solar farm will begin in November and could be completed in six months, Jimenez Pons said.
Source: Reuters
