CFE board votes October 20 on more than 60 solar and wind projects worth $12.5 billion

The board of directors of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) is scheduled to vote on October 20 on more than 60 generation projects, mostly wind and solar farms, that would add roughly 8.2 gigawatts (GW) of capacity and an estimated investment of 12 billion 500 million dollars, El Financiero reported on October 16, citing a person familiar with the matter. The amount depends on transmission costs, according to that same source.

The information, originally published by Bloomberg and also picked up by Bloomberg Línea, describes a preliminary approval rather than the closing of contracts. A second person consulted by the cited outlets warned that the number of projects receiving final approval may be lower. The CFE did not respond to a request for comment from those outlets, so the package has no official confirmation so far.

For the country's grid, the 8.2 GW represent a notable addition against the government's goal of adding 32 GW of generation to the system by 2030, of which 40 percent would come from renewable sources. The scheme fits into President Claudia Sheinbaum's strategy of building infrastructure with private companies in collaboration with the CFE, with the legal requirement that the State retain at least 54 percent ownership of the plants, according to the same reports.

The package reaches a grid that in recent years has recorded seasonal interruptions, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula, and in which the need for additional transmission figures as a variable in the very estimate of 12 billion 500 million dollars. In the region, wind and solar capacity on the Mexican side of the Gulf adds to the conversation about how much renewable generation the interconnection requires to meet growing industrial demand.

The next concrete data point is the result of the board vote: how many projects obtain final approval and on what timeline they enter operation. For investors, the figure will reveal the size of an investment cycle that, based on El Financiero's coverage, would read as the largest renewable package announced for the Mexican electricity system this year, pending the official list.

This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.