ACCIONA participating in Mexican government programme to provide universal access to electricity

ACCIONA has been selected to design, install and maintain solar photovoltaic systems to provide electricity to 720 homes (3,000 people) in three states of Mexico: Chiapas, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. ACCIONA Energy and the ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation worked together on the design and will cooperate to implement the project and maintain the facilities for four years.

This contract is part of the Mexican government's plan to bring electricity for the first time to 10,000 homes and community buildings (schools, health centres, etc.) in areas not connected to the electricity grid. The programme, which is being managed through public tenders organised by agencies FSUE (Fondo del Servicio Universal Eléctrico) and FIDE (Fideicomiso para el Ahorro de Energía Eléctrica), will benefit 898 locations in 11 states and meet the lighting, communication, food preservation and production needs of approximately 45,000 people.

The electrification approach proposed by the Mexican government for these isolated areas is based on household solar photovoltaic systems similar to the ones that the ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation has installed in over 11,500 households to date in Mexico and Peru.

The system comprises a photovoltaic panel, a charge regulator, an inverter, a battery, a number of electric lights, and sockets for other appliances. It makes it possible to provide electricity in areas where a grid connection would be excessively costly or logistically complex.

This is a proven formula as it is the one already implemented by ACCIONA Microenergy to supply electricity to isolated rural areas in Mexico via the "Luz en Casa Oaxaca" programme, through which it has provided electricity to over 7,500 families.

ACCIONA plans to start installing the systems in December this year and complete installation by April 2018. The dates were announced at the contract signing ceremony, which was attended by Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, Mexico's Secretary for Energy.

The project, which will be rolled out in 188 municipalities, is aligned with ACCIONA's vision of acting on the basis of society's needs and generating development through enhancing living standards by providing access to basic services such as electricity as well as driving local economies. The project will leverage the combined know-how of the ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation in installing home solar photovoltaic systems in scattered and isolated rural communities, including long-term operation and maintenance, with ACCIONA Energy's experience in executing renewable energy infrastructure projects.