Mexico’s environment ministry denies authorization for Audi’s solar power plant

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s environment ministry said on Friday it had rejected a key environmental permit for a solar power plant that German automaker Audi has proposed to build at its plant in the central Mexican state of Puebla.

Audi’s proposed environmental impact statement for the photovoltaic power plant, sent to the authorities at the end of May, was rejected because it requires a regional analysis given the additional electricity infrastructure that will be required, the ministry said in a brief statement.

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“From their initial conception, these types of projects require the establishment of a power plant, an electrical substation and internal transmission lines,” he said.

The ministry added that it will assess any new environmental impact statement for the solar power plant submitted by Audi.

Audi is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG.

Audi Mexico said the solar panels it hoped to build were for self-consumption only and would be used « exclusively to perform part of the energy consumption that enables global production of the Audi Q5. »

“Audi Mexico meets all the legal requirements of the country, therefore it verifies the authorization of the already existing transmission station with the delivery of additional documentation requested by the competent authorities,” the company told Reuters in a statement on Saturday. . (Report by Kylie Madry and Brendan O’Boyle in Mexico City edited by Daniel Wallis, Leslie Adler and Matthew Lewis)