Mexico's wind turbines seeping oil

Washington

WIND turbines were planted along a strip of Mexico's southern coast to make the country's power industry cleaner. Now they're spilling oil.

In the town of Juchitan last month, a clean-up was under way around a generator owned by Electricite de France (EDF). Workers wearing goggles and masks were scrubbing off a copper-coloured lubricant that dripped down from the turbine. They'd wrapped cloth around its base, to absorb further leakage, and stuffed contaminated soil and stones into plastic trash bags.

Similar problems have been reported all along the Tehuantepec isthmus, one of the western hemisphere's windiest places.

While the leaks are limited in scope and probably pose no immediate health risk, they look bad - and that's yet another headache for Mexico's energy reformers, who are seeking to make more use of renewable sources as state monopolies open up to private capital. The plan has succeeded in attracting global investment, and wind power is getting its share, with more than US$6.9 billion already pledged. But it's also stirring up all kinds of local opposition, which could soon rebound agains…