Electricity is fundamental to modern societies and will become even more so as its use expands through different technologies and population growth. Power generation is currently the largest source of carbon-dioxide (CO₂) emissions globally, but it is also the sector that is leading the transition to net zero emissions through the rapid rise of renewables. The impacts of COVID-19 on the electricity sector led to a reduction in the demand for electricity, while at the same time, the current global energy crisis has placed the security and affordability of electricity at the top of the political agenda in many countries. In this way, the decrease in the demand for electricity, as well as its gradual recovery, makes it necessary to carry out energy planning that considers the adverse effects caused by global events with a high socioeconomic impact. In this article, the Low Emission Analysis Platform (LEAP) 2020 software has been used to determine the distribution of energy sources to 2050 for Mexico. The variables that lead to the possible profiles for 2050 are social, economic, and technological. The results correspond to a possible future based on official data from the National Electric System (SEN) of Mexico. The forecast for 2050 indicates that the electricity sector will have almost double the current installed capacity; however, emissions do not correspond to twice as much: they are practically 50% higher.

In recent years, the reports presented on climate change and its consequences highlight the need to create public policy agendas that address the problem of adaptation and mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Globally, the energy sector is responsible for a significant percentage of GHG emissions, while it is one of the most important sector for economic growth. In particular, the electricity sector in Mexico relies heavily on fossil fuels for electricity generation. This problem has made it essential to design plans and policies that contribute to GHG mitigation. The General Law on Climate Change, whose objective is to determine the guidelines towards a low-carbon economy, has established a goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2050 concerning the baseline from the year 2000 and proposes to produce 50% of electricity with clean energy by 2050 following the Mexican Energy Transition Law. For this reason, the challenge is to design and develop an environmentally sustainable energy model for the National Electric System (NES). Different scenarios are defined and evaluated considering six probable growing electricity demands, as well as mature technologies considering the potential of renewable resources in Mexico, fossil fuel reserves, efficiencies of each technology, investment costs, operation costs, and maintenance costs along with the price of the fuels. The results showed that it is possible to reduce about 50% of the emissions from the electricity sector by 2050 considering a scenario of low population growth and a yearly per capita consumption of 2.0 MWh, as well as a diversification of the electricity generation matrix.

High electricity demand, as well as emissions generated from this activity impact directly to global warming. Mexico is paying attention to this world difficulty and it is convinced that sustainable economic growth is possible. For this reason, it has made actions to face this problem like as launching constitutional reforms in the power sector. This paper presents an energy model to optimize the grid of power plants in the Mexican electricity sector (MES). The energy model considers indicators and parameters from Mexican Energy Reforms. Electricity demand is defined as a function of two population models and three electricity consumption per capita. Prospectives are presented as a function of total annual cost of electricity generation, an optimal number of power plants—fossil and clean—as well as CO₂eq emissions. By mean of the energy model, optimized grid scenarios are identified to meet the governmental goals (energy and environment) to 2050. In addition, this model could be used as a base to identify optimal scenarios which contribute to sustainable economic growth, as well as evaluate the social and environmental impacts of employed technologies.

In the last fifteen years, Mexico’s National Electric System (Sistema Eléctrico Nacional, SEN) has undergone significant structural changes, including the 2013 energy reform, the 2020 health contingency, ongoing geopolitical pressures, and the 2024 constitutional energy reform. Over this period, electricity consumption grew at an average annual rate of 3.1%, while the generation mix shifted substantially, with solar and wind capacity expanding from negligible levels to a combined output of 38,627 GWh by 2024. Despite these advances, supply reliability remains under pressure, and the growth of renewable deployment has not kept value with declared decarbonization commitments. This study quantifies the gap between the historical growth trajectory of the SEN and the targets established in the national expansion plan, using linear and second-degree polynomial regression models applied to official data series for the period 2010–2024 to assess whether current structural inertia is consistent with Mexico’s declared energy transition commitments. The results indicate that under a trend scenario, renewable installed capacity would reach approximately 34.3% by 2030, with an estimated generation of 112,136 GWh—insufficient to close the gap to sectoral decarbonization goals. The analysis further reveals that the Expansion Plan requires installing nearly twice the annual capacity historically added, posing a financing and institutional challenge that market signals alone cannot resolve. These findings demonstrate that structural inertia, rather than policy ambition, is currently the dominant driver of the evolution of Mexico’s electricity system, and that its energy transition will require deliberate acceleration beyond historical trends.

* Write a brief introduction explaining the relevance of the problem, the characteristics of the location (population, resources, current conditions) and the importance of evaluating the social impacts in renewable energy projects. * In the methodo...

The article "Water-Energy Nexus in Power Systems: A Review" is a valuable contribution. The manuscript demonstrates an effort to address the multifaceted aspects of the water-energy nexus. With some structural improvements and visual enhancements, it...