ROUNDTABLE International newcomers, recently created companies
WHAT NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES HAS THE REFORM UNLOCKED?
and veteran corporations looking to branch out toward attractive sectors. All are looking to capitalize on the new business opportunities brought about by the effective end of Mexico’s 70-year monopoly. Increased renewable energy-powered electricity and developing a fast-paced competitive electricity market are the priority. Be it utility-scale projects to submit in the long-term electricity auctions, PPAs, power generation, trading, ancillary services or participation in transmission and distribution tenders, the private sector is certainly taking a closer look for both sustainable and profitable growth.
Our 20-year experience in the electricity sector made renewable energy the logical next step for growing our business. We consolidated our added value by integrating five must-haves in the electricity sector and applied them to renewable energy. First, a firm grasp of the industry’s regulatory framework. Second, project financing, since it is the backbone of any project. Third, technology; by using the discounted cash
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flow (DCF) method, we can select the technology that is best suited for a project,
RICARDO CARDIEL CEO of Latin American Rainmakers
based on ROI criteria. Fourth, we incorporated EPC solutions in our portfolio. Last, but definitely not least, commercial strategy. All the previous elements are rendered useless without a landed PPA to sell the project.
Taking into account the profile of investors we work with, we will definitely focus on the least risky projects, with a portfolio of 10-12 projects in power generation, energy storage, energy transport and oil and gas exploration and production. The latter is the riskiest subsector among those we are involved in but these risks can be mitigated by strong investments and generating good yields. We are evaluating two sectors with high demand: electricity generation, given the lack of power producers in the market,
CARLOS MICHEL Principal at Fondo de Fondos
and energy infrastructure. Mexico is largely underdeveloped in energy infrastructure, which justifies our evaluation of hydrocarbon and natural gas storage projects as well as transportation via oil and gas pipelines. For the next public auctions, we are also examining electricity transmission towers and substations.
Yingli Solar manages traditional market products such as the delivery of both mono and polycrystalline panels. At the same time, Yingli is positioning its prepackaged solutions in the market. These are ready-to-install 50-100kW on and off-grid systems and include batteries, inverters and solar panels – everything the project developer requires for installation. The market has been very receptive to this solution. Another significant advancement we have made is our PANDA mono
EZEQUIEL BALDERAS Country Manager of Yingli Solar
crystalline panel, which offers efficiencies of up to 20.1 percent. This is almost 30 percent higher than the market average. We expect this panel to provide a huge advantage in the industrial distributed generation segment, in which a lack of space is often a big problem.
