Engie and Tokyo Gas Team Up for Mexican Renewables
Engie and Tokyo Gas are forming a joint venture to develop renewable energy projects in Mexico, the French giant announced April 9.
Heolios EnTG, with ownership split 50/50, will develop, finance, construct, own, operate and maintain six renewable energy projects in the Central American country. Two onshore wind projects will be complemented by four solar plants, with total output of 898.7 MW.
That will be sufficient to power 1.3mn Mexican households, Engie said in a statement. The joint-venture received approval from Mexico’s federal competition commission, COFECE, on March 28.
The projects have been granted 15-year power purchase agreements through Mexican power auctions. The Tres Mesas 3 wind power facility entered into commercial operation ahead of schedule in March. The remaining plants are currently in various stages of construction, but should start commercial operation in 2019 and 2020.
Mexico is endowed with extraordinary solar and wind resources. Aware of this potential, the Mexican government issued an energy law in 2015 transitioning the country to a low-carbon growth model targeting 35% of clean energy sources by 2024.
“We are delighted to further consolidate the relationship of mutual trust between our teams and those of Tokyo Gas with the creation of Heolios EnTG. This joint-venture will combine our complementary areas of expertise and will enable Engie to continue to grow in a key area, the development of renewables in Mexico with Tokyo Gas.
“This move is fully aligned with Engie’s strategic roadmap … for which Engie plans to add 9GW of renewables to its generation portfolio by 2021,” said executive vice president of Engie in charge of Latin America Business Unit Pierre Chareyre.
“We are very pleased to have this opportunity to actively participate in the Mexican renewable market together with Engie, now a world leading company in the renewable sector, with whom we have a longstanding relationship. We strongly believe Heolios EnTG would bring prosperity to both Engie and Tokyo Gas.
“This is a landmark achievement for us as this is the first renewable project joint-venture that Tokyo Gas will participate in outside Japan,” noted chief executive of Global Business Division of Tokyo Gas Kunio Nohata.