Mexico. The Mexican Association of Data Centers (MEXDC) held the face-to-face meeting of two of its Commissions, Sustainability and Energy, with the purpose of sharing the results of the activities carried out and discussing the challenges of the Data Center industry in Mexico.
Amet Novillo, president of MEXDC, indicated that part of the tasks assumed within MEXDC is "to accurately identify the position of Data Centers in Mexico, their global context and the coordination of effective actions to face the challenges. For this, the collaboration and experience of all the associates is of great value and with it continue to promote the growth of the sector", and indicated that "we are at an ideal time to detonate the growth of this industry and what better than to establish the solid foundations to achieve it".
During the face-to-face session, the associates had the opportunity to listen to experts in the field of Sustainability and Energy through the conferences: "Energy for competitiveness", given by Oscar Ocampo, coordinator of Energy and Environment of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO); "Industry Challenges in Energy, Climate Change and Sustainability", given by Enrique Lendo, general director of Energy and Water Development Corp. for Mexico; and "Viable alternatives to have conventional and renewable energy", given by Noé Navarrete, former commissioner of the CRE 2006-2018.
Oscar Ocampo pointed out that companies make their investment decisions based on various factors; however, the pillars of that decision are in the labor market, basic supplies, infrastructure and the rule of law.
"Energy has become a bottleneck to attract high value-added investments in Mexico, especially in the northern and central states," said the executive. He said that "the actions to be taken are to guarantee the independence of the regulator to promote an environment conducive to public and private investment; explore CFE partnerships with private companies in electricity generation; take advantage of all the mechanisms embodied in the law to diversify the sources of financing in electricity network infrastructure; and strengthen the corporate governance of the CFE."
"The best way to boost Mexico's digital competitiveness is to communicate, to the different levels of government, institutions and society in general, the numbers and projections of what the Data Center industry represents for the country, and at the same time the need they have for energy resources," said the coordinator of Energy and Environment.
On the other hand, Enrique Ledo indicated that today 80 percent of investments in the industry, globally, already have in their objectives issues related to achieving better levels of sustainability and minimizing the impact of climate change.
He revealed estimates that over the next 10 years, AI will drive global economic growth of 7 percent, increase labor productivity by 3 percent per year, and provide $450 billion a year of business opportunities for software companies.
"The Data Center industry is the support to enable the trends of nearshoring, 5G, process digitization, connected manufacturing, e-commerce, among others. However, the sustainability of the Cat Centers has become a crucial issue in the digital age, where the demand for cloud services and data storage continues to increase. According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Data Centers consume one percent of the world's electricity, posing significant challenges in the reduction of CO2 emissions," said Enrique Ledo.
Noé Navarrete detailed the viable alternatives to have an electricity grid with conventional and renewable energy, where the challenge is to find a balance of the investment necessary to meet the needs of social and commercial electrification.
"Data Centers are high-value customers for electrification investments and it is important that they are supplied by conventional and renewable sources. The challenge is in the generation close to the Data Center hubs and everything starts from the trend in the demand curve, which in this industry continues to grow," he said.
He added that the government and energy institutions are investing in the modernization and growth of the transmission lines that are capped; "It is important to intensify talks with local authorities so that they intercede in the investment together with the objective of achieving an interconnected system that benefits everyone."
Finally, Héctor Sánchez, co-Chair of the Energy Commission of the MEXDC, stressed that it is important to continue working to bring together the interests of the companies involved in the Data Center industry to share them with the authorities and ensure sustained growth for all competitors.
"Today in this face-to-face meeting we have heard technological, political and social trends that affect all industries in Mexico and in particular in the Data Center sector. We are sure that the collaboration of all as an industry will consolidate initiatives and accurate strategies that allow the growth of the sector and face the different challenges," he concluded.
