Renewable

June 1 (Renewables Now) - Environmental organisation Greenpeace on Friday said that it succeeded in getting a court in Mexico temporarily suspend recently imposed measures by local energy secretariat Sener and electricity system operator Cenace to limit the operation of new Mexican renewable energy plants.

The judge’s ruling applies to Cenace’s measure to indefinitely halt performance tests for wind and solar farms, but also to a resolution that Sener controversially published in the official state gazette despite the publisher’s initial objections.

According to news reports in mid-May, Sener sought to publish its “Policy of reliability, security, continuity in the national electricity system” without first going through the process of regulatory impact analysis. The state gazette then refused, leaving the policy review to the National Commission for Regulatory Improvement (Conamer), it was then reported.

However, Sener succeeded in its intent and published the resolution in the official state gazette just hours after the head of Conamer tweeted his resignation, business magazine Expansion reported.

Since then, several companies in the renewables sector initiated a court battle to contest the measure by Cenace and get the performance tests going so the plants can prepare for commercial operations. News reports that emerged last week said that a judge had blocked Cenace’s measures from entering into force indefinitely.

The Mexican branch of Greenpeace said it had joined legal action on constitutional grounds, seeking sustainability in energy matters, defending the use of renewable energy and pushing for a reduction in polluting emissions in the electricity.

The lawyer for Greenpeace, Luis Miguel Cano, told Forbes Mexico in an interview that the organisation is not defending contracts with renewable energy companies under unsatisfactory condition and is well aware that some projects step over the rights of people and communities.

“We are defending that [renewables] be considered because there are constitutional obligations to respect the environment,” Cano was quoted as saying.

According to Forbes Mexico, the suspension secured by Greenpeace is valid until June 4 unless the energy authorities manage to secure a reversal sooner.

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