The Sonora Plan includes the development of five photovoltaic power plants with a combined generation capacity of 5 Giga Watts (GW), the equivalent of supplying electricity to 6.8 million Mexican homes per year, according to the SHCP.
It will also promote the assembly of vehicles in the north of the country as the beginning of the integration of new electric vehicle technologies into global value chains.
On the one hand, the photovoltaic plants will ensure the supply of clean energy, in line with the energy policies of the automotive industries; on the other hand, the integration of lithium processing into batteries and assembly promotes new investments and technological exchanges not only in the state of Sonora, but also the productive chaining in other regions of the country.
The generation of electric energy with photovoltaic technology opens the door to its storage through its transformation into green hydrogen.
The Sonora Plan also incorporates the vision of the North American Leaders Summit, which took place in Mexico City on January 9, 2023.
The Summit agreed to develop a green hydrogen market through cooperation in research, development of safety standards and the integration of clean transportation corridors along the border.
Sonora Plan
In addition, a plan will be designed for the development of standards and installation of electric chargers along the border to initiate a transition to clean cross-border transportation.
Regarding the progress of the Sonora Plan, in February of this year, the first stage of the photovoltaic plant in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora was inaugurated, which, upon completion, will have a generation capacity of 1 GW in an area of 2,000 hectares, making it the largest photovoltaic park in Latin America and the seventh largest in the world, with a total investment of 1.6 billion dollars.
As part of the interest in detonating economic growth, the Mexican government recognizes the need to achieve energy sovereignty, with sustainable and diverse energy sources.
To achieve this last objective, the government has developed an industrial strategy that will have the electric vehicle industry as one of its central axes.
The state of Sonora has a number of factors that make it a strategic region to integrate more and more with the United States, since it has one of the largest lithium deposits in the world and a great potential for the generation of electric energy through photovoltaic technology, which is in demand by companies that manufacture high value-added goods that are looking to relocate to Mexico.
Electromobility
In April 2022, legal modifications were made that would allow the Mexican State to coordinate the exploitation of lithium deposits located in the state of Sonora with the objective of inserting our country into global value chains through the manufacture of batteries used in electric vehicles.
In August of the same year, the Mexican government announced the Sonora Plan, which laid the foundations for the development of an industry based on electromobility.
The development of this industrial hub in the state of Sonora will result in the creation of higher quality and better paying jobs, as well as an increase in the region’s economic activity through greater domestic and foreign investment.
