Mexican energy plan boosts state-owned power company and sets rules for private producers

Senior officials stated that the government's energy priorities include increasing state-owned CFE and setting rules for companies producing electricity using renewable sources.

At a joint press conference with the president of the country, Claudia Sheinbaum said that private companies could add an additional 9,6 gigawatts to their capacity by 2030 using renewable sources.

CFE's investment plan of $23.4 billion will see it add 13 gigawatts to its capacity, both for fossil fuels and renewables.

CFE will spend $7.5 billion just on transmission infrastructure, as well as on transformers and substations.

Emilia Calleja, CFE's director general, said: "We are going to build an electrical system that is robust, and above all reliable."

Sheinbaum promised, before winning the June elections, that her government would invest more than $13.6billion in energy transition. This included building up capacities for solar and wind, as well as modernizing five hydroelectric power plants.

Sheinbaum's former president, Andres Manuel López Obrador had made it difficult for private companies in the electricity generation.

His government argued that intermittent electricity generation from renewables made the system less stable, forcing CFE filling up storage capacity with fossil fuels.

Prodesen is a government-sponsored program that focuses on the electricity industry. Its data shows that the electricity generated by renewable energy sources (including hydroelectric plants) at the end 2023 will be more than 38,5 terawatts per hour.

The total amount of energy generated in 2023 was 351.7 terawatts per hour, with 76% coming from fossil fuels. Reporting by Adriana Barera and David Alire Garcia, Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing and proofreading by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez & Diane Craft

(source: Reuters)