Mexico City.-Mexico faces its second heat wave of 2024, expecting temperatures above 40 degrees in 23 of the country’s 32 states this Thursday, May 9.
High temperatures have increased demand for electricity and massive blackouts were recorded on Tuesday: in almost half of the states in the country. A situation that led the National Energy Control Center to declare an emergency in the electrical system.
In his morning press conference this Thursday, May 9, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged that the country faces a “deficit in energy generation,” but stated that “it will be regularized soon.”
Mexico expects temperatures higher than 40 degrees Celsius in two thirds of the country. And 12 states will face temperatures above 45 degrees this Thursday.
The National Meteorological Service issued an alert to the population, recommending taking “preventive measures such as avoiding prolonged exposure to solar radiation, hydrating adequately” and taking special care of the most vulnerable people.
Due to the massive blackouts on May 7, the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) declared an emergency in the electrical system and the alert has been maintained since then.
“This is something exceptional that we did not expect,” López Obrador stressed in a press conference on Wednesday, May 8. That same day, net power demand was approximately 44.9 GW, just below generation of 45 GW.
Clean energy generation and creation of storage infrastructure might prevent future electrical emergencies
In the last six years, López Obrador has given priority to energy produced by the state company Compañía Federal de Electricidad, limiting the increase in generators from private companies.
The Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) responded to the emergency in the electrical system with a call to invest more in private initiatives, especially in renewable energy.
“The participation of private investment would provide stability in the face of the various contingencies and challenges of the national electrical system,” the organization noted.
“Generating clean energy and creating storage infrastructure might prevent future electrical emergencies,” he added.
In addition to blackouts, Mexico must manage increasingly prolonged water outages, even in privileged neighborhoods in Mexico City, the capital.
The Cutzamala system, one of the main sources of drinking water for the capital and the surrounding states, registered a 31% reduction in stored water levels on Tuesday, May 7, according to data from the national authority CONAGUA.
A critically low level, scientists warned.France 24.
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2024-05-12 13:47:52
