Mexico City — Mexico’s incoming President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador faces market challenges and social concerns in his effort to increase the country’s hydropower generation capacity as he promised on the campaign trail, sources told S&P Global Platts. Setbacks to his plans for a hydro build-out could ultimately lead to increased natural gas demand from the US. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now Efrain Villanueva, director for renewable energy with Mexico’s Energy Secretariat, or SENER, told Platts on Monday that developing hydropower projects in Mexico is not financially attractive. “Currently, under the existing market structure, hydropower generation can’t compete. At the last long-term electricity auction, CFE is contracted wind and solar generation in the low $20s/MWh,” Villanueva said. Lopez Obrador plans on increasing Mexico’s hydropower generation by 12 TWh/year by the end of his six-year term by building hydro plants as well as […]