CFE Allocates MX$2.903 Billion to Grid Upkeep

CFE will allocate approximately MX$2.903 billion (US$170.76 million) between 2024 and 2026 to carry out maintenance work and acquire operational vehicles for maintaining the country’s electrical transmission lines. CFE’s report aligns with different requests from the private sector that call for improvements in the national transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Héctor Lizárraga, Director General, CFE Transmisión, explained that MX$969 million will be invested in the maintenance of 399 existing transmission lines across all 32 states of the Republic. Additionally, another MX$970 million will be allocated to the maintenance of 678 sub-transmission lines throughout the country during the same period. CFE Transmisión will also allocate MX$964 million to the Operational and All-Terrain Vehicle Acquisition Program for Transmission Lines. This initiative aims to perform preventive and corrective maintenance activities, as well as address faults or contingencies, helping to reduce the downtime of the National Transmission Network (RNT), according to Lizárraga. As a fourth measure, the subsidiary will implement the Transmission Line Equipment Acquisition Program, which includes the acquisition of operational and maneuvering equipment, among others.

Lizárraga announced that in 1Q24, the company generated MX$17.466 billion in revenue from energy transportation. The official mentioned that in 2023, the company invested MX$15.2 million, achieving 99.7% of the scheduled maintenance of the lines and substations that make up the RNT infrastructure. He highlighted that last year, projects such as the Tepic II-Cerro Blanco Link in Nayarit, Campos Banco 1 (SF6) in Manzanillo, Colima, and 352 Transformation and Transmission in Queretaro, Isla Carmen, Nuevo Casas Grandes, and La Huasteca, in Chihuahua, were completed. Additionally, the Pericos MVAr project in Culiacan, Sinaloa, and capacitive compensation in the Queretaro area were also finished. These projects ensure the supply of electricity demand, preserve and improve the reliability of the National Electric System, and stabilize the voltage level in the 115 kV network. He added that during that same period, 2,795GWh of energy were transported through the RNT for export, while 1,975GWh were imported.

Private Sector Demands for Investment in Infrastructure
Gerardo Pérez, President, AMDEE, reiterated the urgency of building transmission and distribution infrastructure, a factor that has limited the growth of renewable energies in the country and, consequently, has affected the nearshoring phenomenon, which has seen an increase in the demand for renewable energy by companies looking to establish in Mexico. Similarly, Luis Ramón, President, Diram, mentioned in an interview with MBN that there has been inadequate investment in the SNR. “In the electrical sector, there are deficiencies at all levels, including generation, transmission, distribution, monitoring, measurement, and system protection. We are significantly lagging in all these aspects,” Ramón said. 

Cesar Gama, Director of Energy, Saving with Energy Mexico, also mentioned to MBN that the increase in blackouts and lack of capacity is caused by problems in the transmission and distribution lines, not in generation. The focus should be on reducing generation to what people really need.