Mexico Targets 27,000 MW Additional Power Generation by 2016

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- CFE, Mexico’s state owned power utility, is targeting a total national generation capacity of 69,000 MW by December 2016, the company’s financed investment projects director, Eugenio Laris, told the Latin American energy symposium in mid-August in Mexico City. This would mean an additional 27,000 MW from the current operating capacity base of 52,000 MW. CFE has 85% of the country’s total installed capacity of 56.4 MW.

Consumption of electrical power is set to increase from 199 tWh (terawatt hours) in 2006 to 322 tWh in 2016. The increase capacity to service this consumption will mean the construction of about 65 new power plants. This new capacity will come in the main from gas-fired plants and conventional technologies with lower costs, shorter construction schedules to meet the short-term need to meet the rising demand.

A number of ‘clean energy’ hydropower schemes feature in new power projects due to become operational in the next ten years including the 750 MW La Yesca in 2012, the 900 MW La Parota project in 2014 and a 114 MW project on the Moctezuma river in 2012. $20 million of the $1.02 billion investment in La Parota will go for social works and compensation. La Parota will be 28 kilometers from Acapulco on the Papagaya River with a dam wall height of 162 meters and a power plant with the 3 x 300 MW turbines.

CFE is also looking at the Paso La Reina River in Oaxaca. The 500 MW San Pedro river project in Nayarit could come on stream in 2016 and the 1,000 MW Infiernillo plant in Guerrero could be expanded.

CFE is looking ahead to renewable resources, said Laris. The company estimates that 7,000MW of windpower potential exists in Mexico and 2,000 MW of geothermal sources. He added that the country’s solar and biomass sources were relatively unexploited. He said that the agricultural sector using methane for distributed generation could produce 3% of current national output and biogas from landfills could provide another 1,000 MW. CFE also has a wave energy pilot project offshore Rosarito in Baja California where development investigations would continue, said Laris.

In mid-July Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon announced the 2007-12-infrastructure development plan that allocated $35.4 billion to the electricity sector, representing 62.4 per cent of the 5-year infrastructure plan. Of this total $14.6 billion will be invested in an additional 9,000 MW of power capacity in to the electricity sector. $8.5 billion will go into expanding the country’s 734,400 kilometers of transmission lines by 14,000 kilometers and $7.4 billion will be invested in distribution. By 2012 renewable sources are set to contribute 25 per cent to the national power capacity, up from 22% in 2006.

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