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MEXICO CITY, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Mexico has taken a major step towards meeting its clean energy goals, Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said Wednesday.
Addressing an energy reform forum in the eastern state of Tabasco, Coldwell said a recent government tender, which was won by China's Jinko Solar and 10 other firms, would ensure the country's future supply of clean energy, regional daily Tabasco Hoy reported.
"We carried out a tender so that the CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) can buy clean energy in the future and fulfill the commitments to reduce the greenhouse effect," said Coldwell, referring to Mexico's pledge to contribute to the fight against global warming.
The 11 winners of Mexico's first clean energy tender signed contracts on Tuesday for the 18 projects they will take on to provide clean energy.
Chinese solar company Jinko Solar, along with companies from Mexico, Spain, Italy and the U.S., have all benefited from Mexico's energy reform, which allows private interests from around the world to take part in this sector for the first time.
The 18 projects involved in this first round of contracts will add 2,085 megawatts of installed capacity at a total investment cost of 2.6 billion U.S. dollars over the next three years, according to an official release from the Ministry of Energy.
Of the 18 projects, 12 are solar projects while six are wind farms spread across the states of Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Tamaulipas and Yucatan.
China's Jinko Solar won the right to operate three of the solar projects, with a joint installed capacity of 188MW, with two of them located in Yucatan and one in Jalisco.
Mexico aims to generate at least 25 percent of its electric energy from clean sources by 2018, with that rate rising to 35 percent by 2024 and 50 percent by 2050.
During the signing ceremony in Mexico City, Coldwell said all these companies were being trusted to take the Mexican electric market to unprecedented heights of clean energy.
According to Coldwell, this first tender marked an international first given the low prices being charged to the winners for the generation of renewable energy, a trend which will continue during the second tender in September.
Undersecretary of Electricity Cesar Emilio Hernandez added that 88 firms had signed up to take part in the second tender but that this number could go up to over 100.
As part of the energy forum hosted by the People's University of Chontalpa, officials unveiled the first solar panel PV (photovoltaic) system to be installed at a public university, the regional daily said.
