H ighlights WIND ENERGY NOW REACHING FULL GROWTH
Wind energy is beginning to adopt the charac teristic s of a resilient and well established industry at a global scale. This assertive notion became a recurring theme during the panel titled “Opportunities Across the Wind Industry Project Lifecycle,” during Mexico Energy Forum 2021 on Thursday, Mar. 11. The panel was moderated by Veronica Zapata Oviedo, Kino Asset Manager at Enel Green Power. Zapata Oviedo said wind energy technology was at the tail end of a long process of maturation. Now, the industry was working with top-of-the-line components that were uniquely adapted to their own scenarios. “Technology has allowed us to constantly improve wind power. Today, we have a better acquisition portfolio and fewer interruptions in this alternative energy.” Zapata Oviedo began the discussion by asking panelists about their experiences regarding remaining obstacles to wind energy development.
more about technological implementation rather than culture. Martínez argued that upcoming onshore turbine projects in Mexico still need to adopt the latest characteristics in terms of size, which could reach up to 200m of rotor diameter and challenge the usual limit of 164m. This could also mean higher levels of generation capacity and energy efficiency. Martínez believes that technology that is classified as “modern” is perhaps not innovative or disruptive enough, so more up to date technologies need to be implemented to embrace advantages like integrated data management in wind energy assets that can optimize decision-making, making weather predictions and coordinating wind turbine arrays through digital platforms and IoT systems together with storage solutions. “Storage systems are not the future but the present. As a result, Envision Energy is promoting modern systems throughout Mexico.”
Zapata Oviedo agreed with the nature of this particular problem. While panelist David Martínez, Director de SPV’s Mexico at Envision Energy, also agreed to an extent, he was also quick to contextualize this cultural resistance by explaining that wind energy is still very new to Mexico when compared to Europe, with the first wind turbine being installed in 1994, over a century after the first wind turbine was installed in Scotland. For Martínez, the prevailing challenges in the industry are
Turbine dimension was an important issue for panelist Albert Sunyer Folch, Mexico Country Manager of Nordex & Acciona Windpower,
“We have launched rotors for areas that are favorable for wind power and also for areas that are not so favorable...” Veronica Zapata Oviedo
Kino Asset Manager at Enel Green Power
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