Mexico announces electric expansion plan with joint public and private investment

During the conference held last April 9th, led by the Mexican executive authority, the head of the Ministry of Energy ("SENER" per its acronym in Spanish), Ms. Luz Elena Gonzalez Escobar presented certain strategic actions to expand, modernize, and optimize the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power nationwide.

A total public investment of more than 620,000 million pesos is considered to achieve this goal, along with an additional private sector investment of more than 130,000 million pesos through the incorporation of private projects (mostly clean energy) with more than 6,400 MW of generation capacity.

Therefore, according to the Expansion Plan of the Federal Electricity Commission ("CFE" per its acronym in Spanish), by 2030, 29,074 MW will be added to the electric power generation capacity, considering both public and private participation. There are 11 projects that will start operations immediately in 2025, and another seven projects that are still pending bidding this year. These include four combined cycle power plants ("CCC"), one internal combustion power plant ("CCI"), and two photovoltaic power plants ("CFV") in different states of Mexico:

• CCC Francisco Pérez Ríos: Tula, Hidalgo
• CCC Salamanca II: Guanajuato
• CCC Altamira: Tamaulipas
• CCI Los Cabos: Baja California Sur
• CCC Mazatlán: Sinaloa
• CFV P Peñasco Sec III: Sonora
• CFV P Peñasco Sec IV: Sonora

They are expected to start operations between 2028 and 2029, according to the dates of the calls and decisions stated in the following image:

(This image was obtained from the document “Plan México Acciones del Sector Eléctrico,” presented by the Ministry of Energy during the morning conference of the Mexican executive authority on April 9th, 2025)

We highlight that the "CFV P Peñasco Sec IV" project would be the largest photovoltaic power plant in Latin America.

In terms of electric power transmission, 158 projects will be carried out in 2030 to strengthen the National Transmission Network with 15,729 MVA. The Mexican government will announce 77 new projects, 9 of which will be tendered in 2025, in the states of Jalisco, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Baja California, and Guanajuato, representing a total investment of 476 million pesos and a capacity of 1,705 MVA.

Lastly, to expand and modernize the distribution of electric power, the aforementioned expansion plan includes the construction of 97 new substations, 95 expanded and reinforced substations, and 6,875 modernization works on the country's distribution networks, according to the investment detailed in the following image:

(This image was obtained from the document “Plan de Fortalecimiento y Expansión del Sistema Eléctrico Nacional,” presented by the Ministry of Energy during the morning conference of the Mexican executive authority on  April 9th, 2025)

Additionally, the head of the SENER acknowledged the needs of development hubs and industrial parks that are included in government plans and programs. Therefore, personalized attention and special treatment will be provided to industrial parks, offering expedited procedures so that this does not become a limitation in terms of investment. It was announced that on April 21^st, for the benefit of investment in Mexico, a specific one-stop window will be opened for handling clean energy generation permits, in order to streamline the processing of such permits within the country. Furthermore, it was confirmed that a permit committee will be established within SENER and the National Energy Commission for the issuance of permits, with the aim of reducing the issuance time by up to 50%.