The University of Texas at Austin (UT) recently signed a partnership agreement with Monterrey Tech, a university in Mexico, to develop a reliable, clean, sustainable and affordable electric power sector for Mexico, UT has announced.
The UT-Monterrey Tech partnership will make it easier to transfer and share knowledge and best practices, leveraging the strengths of both institutions to meet Mexico’s fast-growing demand for electricity, according to UT. The signing of the agreement was witnessed by Guillermo Ignacio García Alcocer, president of Mexico’s Comisión Reguladora de Energía (the Energy Regulatory Commission).
UT says the Mexican government has set ambitious clean energy generation targets of 30% by 2021 and 50% by 2050. The joint agreement will help the country develop a balanced mix of natural gas and renewables to meet these goals.
The partnership, managed by UT’s Energy Institute, will link Monterrey Tech with more than 100 faculty members at UT in 20 energy-related research centers. The two universities will conduct joint faculty and student exchanges, conferences and seminars, and research on electric power. Areas of collaboration will include energy security, reliability, sustainability, efficiency and affordability, as well as good governance for energy markets.
“We look forward to working with our colleagues in Mexico on critical energy issues of importance to both countries and tackling challenges that know no borders,” says Tom Edgar, director of the Energy Institute.
UT has had academic and research exchange programs with Monterrey Tech for almost 50 years, the university notes.
