Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S.A.B. de C.V. (ASUR), a privatized airport group in Mexico and operator of Cancun Airport and eight other airports in southeast Mexico, as well as a 50% JV partner in Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, operator of the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, announced an agreement with SunPower for 36MW of solar power to serve ASUR's operations in Mexico. ASUR will buy power generated by the solar power plant under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with SunPower.
"We anticipate that this cost-competitive solar power from SunPower will offset expected increases in the cost of electricity from fossil fuel sources over the long-term," said Adolfo Castro, Chief Executive Officer of ASUR. "As a member of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sustainability Index, this is a critical step in further reducing the carbon footprint of our airports. Through our energy efficiency efforts to-date we have reduced energy per passenger by 34% over the past six years.”
This PPA will allow ASUR to cover 100% of its energy requirements as of the date of this announcement with solar power.
SunPower expects to start construction on this 36MW phase of a solar plant in Mexico in 2016. Once the project is operational, SunPower will provide operations and maintenance services, including monitoring power plant production. SunPower plans to design and build SunPower® Oasis® Power Plant systems for the sites.
"Increasingly, off-site solar is an option selected by businesses that want to take advantage of the value and benefits of solar, but lack available land at their own facilities to generate the amount of power they need to serve demand," said Jorg Heinemann, SunPower Executive Vice President, Global Power Plants. "We will be providing cost-effective solar power for ASUR's airports in Mexico, taking advantage of this country's abundant solar resource."