CFE to vote on October 20 on more than 60 renewable projects worth $12.5 billion
The CFE board votes on October 20 on more than 60 solar and wind projects worth $12.5 billion and 8.2 GW. What it means for suppliers and operators in Mexico.
The board of directors of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) will vote on October 20 on more than 60 solar and wind projects that would add roughly 8.2 gigawatts to the grid and an estimated $12.5 billion in investment, according to El Financiero. The figure is equivalent, per the same source, to the capacity of eight nuclear reactors.
The package is part of President Claudia Sheinbaum's strategy to shore up a grid that has suffered seasonal blackouts, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula, after years of insufficient investment in plants and transmission lines, Bloomberg Línea reported. Mexican law requires the State to retain at least 54 percent ownership of all power plants, a lock that shapes the structure of partnerships with private developers. The push for private investment contrasts with the previous administration, which restricted the participation of companies in the electricity sector, according to El Financiero. For an operator in Mexico, the file matters because it concentrates a relevant signal of new capacity in a system whose demand is growing with industrial relocation.
The approval being voted on is preliminary and does not amount to the award of contracts. A second person cited by Bloomberg Línea noted that the number of projects with definitive green light may be lower, and a CFE spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. The company has also not published the list of developers or the distribution of the 8.2 gigawatts by technology. The total cost depends on transmission expenses, a variable the source did not break down. The official goal is to add 32 gigawatts of generation capacity by 2030, with 40 percent from renewable sources, according to El Financiero.
For suppliers of panels, structures and installation services, the October 20 calendar marks when the next round of purchases opens. For an industrial user with high consumption, the data leaves a concrete question on the table: whether the new capacity will arrive before the next peak demand season.
This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.