Mexico raises grid fee for renewable projects finalized before energy reforms

The Mexican government revealed grid-fee increases last week for renewable energy plants installed under the so-called Contratos Legados regulatory framework, which was in force prior to the energy reforms implemented in 2013. The Mexican regulator approved the new tariffs at the end of May, but the government still needed to confirm the precise amounts. The fee for installations connected to the low-voltage grid is MXN0.89284 ($0.04)/kWh, while the tariff for plants linked to the medium-voltage network is MXN0.25865, up roughly 400%. For plants that are tied to the high-voltage grid, the fee has been increased to MXN0.27857. However, the measures only affect a small amount of PV project owners. Most of the country’s installed PV capacity was deployed after the energy reforms were introduced – including both distributed-generation PV and large-scale solar projects.