SENER Inaugurates González Ortega Plant in Mexicali

President Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurated the MX$73.9 billion (US$704 million) González Ortega Combined-Cycle Power Plant in Mexicali, Baja California on June 21, 2026. The facility injects 653MW of net capacity (745.4MW gross) and an annual projection of 5,000GWh into the northwestern grid. This rollout addresses severe, temperature-driven summer demand surges from regional real estate and manufacturing hubs where temperatures regularly exceed 50°C.

President Claudia Sheinbaum inaugurated the González Ortega Combined Cycle Power Plant on Sunday, June 21, in Mexicali, presiding over an event that brought together SENER Minister Luz Elena González, CFE Director General Emilia Calleja, and Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar. The plant will add 653MW to the country's generation capacity and forms part of the federal strategy to strengthen energy infrastructure during the current administration.

The González Ortega plant will have an annual generation capacity of more than 5,000GWh. The plant required a public investment of US$704 million and operates with a thermal efficiency of 55.25%, alongside a zero-discharge system that avoids wastewater generation.

The plant, which entered commercial operations in May, has a gross installed capacity of 745.4MW, benefiting more than 3.8 million inhabitants of Baja California. The difference between the 653MW figure cited by CFE's Director General at the ceremony and the 745.4MW total installed capacity reflects the distinction between net capacity added to the system, the figure relevant to grid planning, and gross installed capacity.

Calleja Alor explained that the infrastructure will allow reinforcement of electricity supply during periods of high demand, especially in summer, when thousands of households simultaneously use air conditioning equipment due to the extreme temperatures recorded in the region.

Mexicali: A Grid Under Extreme Demand

Sheinbaum noted that Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado are considered among the hottest zones on the planet, with temperatures that can exceed 50°C, a situation that considerably increases electricity consumption. The governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila, emphasized that in this region electricity is not a luxury but a basic necessity.

The extreme thermal conditions that define Mexicali's summer profile make the González Ortega plant's arrival operationally critical rather than merely incremental. CENACE had identified the northwestern grid, including the Baja California Electric System, which until relatively recently operated in isolation from the rest of Mexico's national interconnected system, as a high-risk point ahead of the 2026 summer demand season. The González Ortega plant, combined with the interconnection with Sonora that Sheinbaum highlighted during the event, provides meaningful headroom for what would otherwise be a grid entering its most stressful months with inadequate firm capacity.

Governor Ávila Olmeda reported a historic investment of more than MX$73.9 billion in Baja California for transmission, distribution, and generation works across all corners of the state, including transmission lines and substations, modernization and automation of distribution networks, and strengthening of the San Quintín electrical system. She also highlighted a historic subsidy of MX$1.485 billion for electricity tariffs in Mexicali and San Felipe, a benefit for more than 1.37 million people.

Sheinbaum announced that CFE will carry out a modernization program for electrical infrastructure in Mexicali through the replacement of 4,000 poles, many of which are still wooden and showing deterioration. Around 500 of the 4,000 poles have already been replaced as part of the state network modernization program. The pole replacement program is a distribution-level reliability measure that complements the generation addition; generation capacity is only commercially useful if the distribution network can deliver it to end users without interruption.

Three Principles, One Target

Sheinbaum stated that the production of energy in Mexico must have at least three characteristics: the first is to guarantee national sovereignty; the second is to reduce environmental impacts through sustainability; and the third is social justice, framing all three as indispensable for the development of the national electricity sector.

Sheinbaum also announced that her government seeks for CFE to reach 60% of national electricity generation, a target that goes beyond the 54% constitutional minimum established by the 2025 energy reform, and one that, if pursued through the combined buildout of combined-cycle plants and the 38-project renewable portfolio whose completion Sheinbaum confirmed last week, would represent a substantial expansion of the state utility's share in a market where private participation is simultaneously being pursued through the mixed development scheme framework.

The González Ortega inauguration is the fourth major CFE generation event in five weeks: the 499MW Elvia Carrillo Puerto plant in Merida (May 12), the 745MW González Ortega commercial operation announcement (May 17), the 357MW Manzanillo III inauguration (June 13), and now the formal presidential inauguration of González Ortega (June 21).