Impacts and savings of energy efficiency measures: A case for Mexico's electrical grid

In the efforts to decarbonize the electricity sector, energy efficiency approaches have consistently shown co-benefits that merit investment and further development. Tools that can help decision-makers evaluate the eco-nomic and environmental impacts could accelerate the adoption of energy efficiency measures and support the development of targeted incentives, both spatial and temporally. In this work, a unified, corrected, and high -resolution electricity consumption framework is first developed to produce new data insights with an increased spatial and temporal resolution, allowing the possibility of performing detailed energy policy sce-narios. A case scenario for Mexico is constructed, where the impacts in the electrical grid from a suite of energy efficiency measures are quantified at high spatial and temporal resolution. The novel data sets are used to model electricity-reduction approaches in great detail for the most electricity-consuming economic activities in the country. It is shown that commercial electricity consumption is underestimated by up to 3 x in government reports and that US$ 11B could be saved in the wholesale electricity market -equating to 142 MtCO2eq of avoided emissions- if a 12% electricity reduction target is implemented to the top-20 most demanding eco-nomic activities over the years 2021-2035. Potential priorities for incentives are identified based on criteria suited for different stakeholders, including economic and environmental justice dimensions.

Automated summary

In this study, a unified, corrected, and high-resolution electricity consumption framework is developed to quantify the impacts of energy efficiency measures on the electrical grid. The research findings show that implementing a 12% electricity reduction target in Mexico can result in significant cost savings and emissions reductions. Priorities for incentives are identified based on different criteria.