The total value of wind farm financings reaching close in Mexico slightly declined in 2015, according to IJGlobal data, but activity in the sector is set to rebound. A number of new equity investors have recently entered the market and Mexico's first auction for power purchase agreements (PPAs) is due to be held next month.

The dip in volume of wind deals last year can be partially attributed to the rolling out of reforms relating to the power and oil and gas sectors which were originally announced in 2013. Some developers put projects on hold in anticipation of these regulations.

According to the national wind association Amdee, there is 2.7GW of operational wind capacity in Mexico and the aim is to more than triple this figure by 2018, which will go toward meeting the country's overall renewable energy mandate of 35% by 2024.

Spanish sponsors such as Acciona and Iberdrola have been particularly active in the Mexican wind sector to date and are expected to continue to play a fundamental role in the future. The former carried out the first long-term international bond financings for two of its operational wind farms – Oaxaca II and Oaxaca IV – in 2012, while the latter typically opts to fund projects on a corporate basis.

In the last couple of years there has been a demonstrable appetite from private equity funds for Mexican wind assets. Recent examples include First Reserve’s equity investment into the 130MW La Bufa wind farm in Zacatecas state in December 2015. The firm and its partner Mexico Power Group simultaneously closed a $256 million debt-financing with a consortium of banks to support the project’s development.

Actis, through Zuma Energía, closed a majority interest in the 50MW Ingenio wind project in Oaxaca, as well as a $93 million debt facility with local lender Bancomext in September 2014. And in April 2014 Blackstone, through portfolio company Fisterra Energy, purchased a majority stake in the 252MW Ventika complex from Cemex, along with a $490 million debt facility. The Ventika I and Ventika II projects are now up for sale.

Other new sponsors are expected to compete in the upcoming tender in a bid to take advantage of the country's abundant wind resource. They include Cubico Sustainable Investments, a London-headquartered firm formed of Banco Santander, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and PSP Investments. The investment company has a pipeline of 800MW of renewable energy projects in Mexico that it intends to develop both alone and with local partners.

Active lenders to Mexican wind projects include international development finance institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, OPIC and the Northern American Development Bank, as well as their local counterparts Bancomext, Banobras and Nafin. While active commercial lenders in the sector are Banorte, Santander and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).