Privates Produce More Electricity Than CFE

Despite several rejected permits involving clean energy generation, private companies have increased their participation in the National Electrical System (SEN) since 2021.

In June, CRE rejected the request of seven companies seeking to generate altogether 880MW of clean electricity. The largest project denied permission was from the company Recursos Solares PV de México V, which intended to generate 230.75MW of solar energy in the state of Campeche. CRE also refused FRV San Isidro, (120MW of solar energy in Tamaulipas), followed by Scutti Solar 3 (114.45MW of solar energy in Hidalgo), Energía El Trojano (108.13MW in Tlaxcala), 360 Plaza de Cibeles (76.5MW in Zacatecas), Solar Park Lomas de Ocampo III (30MW in Coahuila) and Mexico’s Wind Parks (200MW in Coahuila).

From Sept. 1, 2021, to the end of June 2022, SEN increased its power generation capacity by 1,687.5MW, of which CFE only generated 656MW supported by the start of operations of its combined cycle power plant "Centro." Meanwhile, 19 private wind and photovoltaic plants went into operation, adding 517MW of capacity to the SEN, together with another three plants powered by different technologies representing 514 MW, adding up to a total 1,031MW. Approximately 33 percent of the 1,687.5MW, came from clean technologies.

Nonetheless, SENER pointed out that CFE will soon add another 1,000MW to the grid through a photovoltaic power plant in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. Additionally, there are 33 CFE power plants under development. This represents an additional total installed capacity of 9,095MW, with an investment of US$9.5 billion.

During the aforementioned period of time, CRE granted only 11 energy generation permits for a total of 369.9MW additional capacity expected in the next two years. While the number of permits between 2021 and 22 increased against 2020-2021, the energy capacity created was much lower compared to the 2,475MW projected to reach the grid in 2020-2021.