Scaling up Climate finance Through the Financial Sector (30x30) Zero) Program in Mexico - Distributed Generation from Renewable Energy 

Econoler and Coenergía supported the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in deploying its 30×30 Zero program in Mexico to help the country reach the clean energy targets set in its updated 2022Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Distributed generation (DG) is viewed as a promising solution with high scalability and replicability potential. However, market barriers and bottlenecks prevent the deployment in scale of DG projects. 

The objective of this assignment was to understand the financing challenges faced in the deployment of DG projects. Specifically, the project was aimed at understanding why DG financing options are so limited in Mexico. The analysis also served to identify potential solutions to address barriers and challenges that were identified and validated through a literature review as well as series of roundtable discussions and stakeholder interviews.

Under the mandate, Econoler carried out the following tasks: 

• Review and update the issue paper, through literature reviews and interviews, previously prepared by the IFC and to be used as background information in roundtable discussions;

• Identify, invite, and bring together more than 50 relevant stakeholders of the DG sector in Mexico, including government, public sector institutions, regulators, public and private banks, chambers and associations, private project developers and technology providers, as well as academia, among others;

• Design and conduct one-day roundtable discussions to identify the main opportunity areas to boost the DG sector from a multidisciplinary perspective at the national level across four key strategic areas: 1) Legislation, public policy, and regulations; 2) technology, innovation, development, and sources of DG; 3) strategic alliances and markets, business models, and competitiveness; and 4) financing and investment;

• Translate the outcomes of the roundtable discussions into actionable practices for each of the three stakeholder groups, namely the public, private, and finance sectors, and validate them with certain specific stakeholders through interviews and a focus group;

• Develop a roadmap of 30 actions for deployment of the 30×30 Zero program to achieve its intended impact on the development of the DG market in Mexico, to deploy solutions to overcome the causes of limited financing options for DG in Mexico, and to allocate roles and responsibilities to different stakeholders involved in the implementation of the 30×30 Zero program;

• Prepare a summary report to present the lessons learned from the consultancy. The IFC will be able to use this report to prepare the next round of support for 30×30 Zero program engagement in other countries while taking into account cultural differences.

Upon project completion, the IFC better understood the financing challenges faced in the deployment of DG projects in Mexico, and local stakeholders now have at their disposal a roadmap to overcome the challenges or mitigate them.