The International REC Standard (I-REC) is an international standard for issuing, tracking and redeeming renewable energy certificates in countries where tracking systems do not yet exist, explains a news release from the South Pole Group, which develops emission reduction projects. Now that the Aura Solar I is a registered I-REC project, it allows corporates to support the transition to renewable energy in Latin America by reducing their indirect greenhouse gas emissions.
Aura Solar I has an installed capacity of 39 MW and generates around 80,000 MWh of clean electricity per year, meeting the energy needs of approximately 164,000 people or 65 per cent of the population of the state’s capital city La Paz. South Pole Group calls the project an important trigger in the clean energy revolution in Mexico. It is part of the wider initiative Iniciativa Aura Solar, which aims to develop successful large-scale photovoltaic projects that can capital on Mexico’s high solar potential. The project replaces the use of fossil fuels and helps mitigate the environmental risks of the transport of hydrocarbons into the delicate ecosystem of the Gulf of California.