A solar power project under construction at Mexico City’s main wholesale market will be finished by the middle of the year, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said Sunday.
An 18-megawatt solar plant is currently being built on the rooftops of the Central de Abasto, located in the capital’s eastern Iztapalapa borough.
During a visit to the market to inspect the project on Sunday, Sheinbaum said that the plant will be fully operational by June or July.
A 1-megawatt section of the plant is expected to begin operations in the first week of February, while an additional eight megawatts are slated to come online in April.
Once completed, the 600-million-peso (US $31.8 million) plant will have the capacity to supply the market with about 30% of the electricity it consumes. The federal Energy Ministry contributed 500 million pesos to the project, while the Mexico City government provided the other 100 million pesos.
On Twitter, Sheinbaum wrote that the project would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen Mexico’s “energy sovereignty.”
“Ciudad Solar,” or Solar City, the mayor said, is the largest photovoltaic power plant of its kind in the world.
Over 30,000 Chinese-made solar panels will eventually be installed on the rooftops of the Central de Abasto, which covers an area equivalent to the size of some 400 football fields.
Fadlala Akabani, Mexico City’s minister of economic development, said that vendors in the sprawling market will see their electricity costs go down as the project progresses.
“All the Central de Abasto tenants will benefit, firstly with their [electricity] payments for common areas and secondly … their own bills [will go down],” he said.
With reports from Expansión
