por ALFREDO AZCARATE VARELA
THE BAJA POST/EDITOR
PICTURE: http://news.mit.edu/
Solar energy, is a mega Project that Baja California Governor has mentioned several times, there will be a giant Photovoltaic Park which will supply electricity for the duct that transports water from Mexicali to Tijuana, there have been mentions of another project to build a nuclear energy micro-plant, but Governor Bonilla said that the subject is only a mention by Rocio Nahle, Federal Energy (SENER) Secretary, when she attended and addressed the Senators, at the end of October.
Governor Bonilla, said that there is an energy generation deficit in Baja California, so the photovoltaic project would help to cover it and (most important yet) to reach energetic autonomy and sustainability, to speed up the State development and make it more competitive, as the region demands since it is not connected to the national electrical network.
He also said that, due to the urgency of the current energetic issue in Baja California, that is, to compensate the lack of electricity generation, the State has been forced to “tur off” the Río Colorado-Mexicali-Tijuana water ducts pumping equipment thus grounding the water supply for the state Pacific coast, so he said that the Photovoltaic Park project is the best current alternative.
“Mexicali privileged geographic location, allows for a big output of electricity using the Sun as the main source, that is why we are advocating for the macro-project, where the state administration will not invest a single peso, since there is an invitation for private investors to build and operate the park, with the only condition of selling inexpensive electricity (below the market price) to the State”, said Governor Bonilla who talked about the reñevance and safety of solar energy.
Regarding what Secretary Nahle said, which was October 26 when she addressed the Republic Senate in Mexico City, the Governor said that “it was nothing but a casual mention” and up to the present, the statement that the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE in Spanish) which allegedly has a nuclear energy project “somewhere in Baja California” is only a rumor and there is no confirmation of such an undertaking anywhere in the peninsula.
Bonilla Valdez also commented that, unlike the use of solar energy in the photovoltaic park, which wouldn´t be a hazard at all, due to the kind of structure that its construction and operation would represent, in the construction and operation of nuclear generators in the region the risk factor is higher since the San Andres geological tectonic makes Mexicali an seismic hazard area.
