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The
first phase of the Puerto Penasco solar plant in the sprawling
border state, which boasts some of the highest temperatures in
the country, was inaugurated in February as part of Mexican
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's flagship solar push,
which officials have said could boast four additional plants.
During a visit to Taiwan, Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo said
the "Plan Sonora" solar energy project would not only help
improve domestic connectivity to the national grid, but also to
export to the United States.
"Not only Arizona, but also California. It's part of its
objective," he told Reuters on Monday. "We want to convert our
state into an exporter of clean energy, particularly for
semiconductor and electric vehicle industries."
Durazo said he would be meeting major Apple supplier Foxconn
while he was in Taipei to discuss possible investment in his
state, though was not planning to meet TSMC.
Foxconn, which has made electric vehicles a major part of its
future development strategy, has large operations in Mexico but
no plants in Sonora.
"Our interest in Foxconn is in establishing semiconductor
plants, and also, eventually, factories of some or all the
stages of e-mobility," added Durazo, who is only visiting Taiwan
on this overseas trip.
Durazo said he would like a TSMC chip plant in his state, and
that he would be visiting the Hsinchu Science Park, where the
chipmaker does much of its manufacturing in Taiwan.
"Assuming as a natural complement of all these processes of
relocation of investment in Arizona, we also see TSMC as an
obvious option for Sonora state," he said.
Foxconn and TSMC both declined to comment.
Sonora also boasts major lithium deposits, which Lopez Obrador
formally nationalised in Mexico earlier this year.
Mexico has yet to begin production of the metal, which is a key
component for EV batteries.
To facilitate production, Durazo underlined that private
investors would be able to partner up with the incipient
national lithium company LitioMx on the condition they
established supply chains in Sonora.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Carlos Garcia; Editing by Jamie
Freed)
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