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The National Energy Control Center of Mexico will take part of the renewable energy generation out of operation to ensure the reliability of the system national electricity company, says the CFE Mexico announces reduction of renewable energies after mega blackout of light from last week. Photo: Francisco Santos / EFE
By: EFE 10 from January 2021
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), a Mexican State company, announced that will ask to “take out of operation” renewable energy generators by holding them responsible for the national blackout that affected 10, 3 million people last week.
CFE executives stated that the failure in the electrical system of the 30 December occurred when “there was very low demand”, and a generation of wind and photovoltaic energy that represented 28 % of the total, “the greatest value in history.”
“As a preventive measure in low demands, Cenace (National Center for Energy Control) will be forced to take part of the intermittent renewable generation out of operation In order to ensure the reliability of the national system said Luis Bravo, CFE’s Director of Corporate Communication.
This is the third press conference that the CFE offers to explain the blackout that last week affected 28% of total demand and a quarter of the national territory, as recognized by the State electric company.
The company has insisted that a fire in a transmission line in Tamaulipas, in the northeast of the country, was the main cause of the incident although the authorities of that state have questioned that version.
CFE officials also accused private renewable energy plants that generate electricity for the state company.
“ This type of power plant, in addition to requiring conventional generation backup, lacks mechanical inertia and has no ability to support system restoration to stable condition “, indicated Bravo when reading the official report of the CFE.
This is not the first time The Government of Mexico seeks to limit renewable energies to strengthen the electricity generated in CFE’s own plants.
With the argument of preserving the stability of the electrical system from the pandemic , Cenace published an agreement last April that limited the entry of private renewable plants.
Later, in May, the Ministry of Energy (Sener) published a policy to discourage the dispatch of renewable energy because they are “intermittent” .
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has argued that he must rescue the CFE from the “looting of the private sector” that began in the “neoliberal period”.
“The CFE supports the National Electric System. It is a guarantee for the nation and we will defend it. The president has taken a position that makes us proud: we must rescue the CFE precisely from the design for its disappearance “, Said this Tuesday Manuel Bartlett, director of the company.
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) reported this week that this year it will review the constitutionality of the Cenace agreement and Sener’s policy , which are challenged by the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece).
Keep reading: Mega power outage in Mexico was caused by a fire, Mexican authorities indicate.
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