Mexico publishes draft terms for $1.1B transmission line tender

2018-1-25

 Mexico will hold its first tender for a transmission line interconnecting for the first time Baja California with the rest of the country, according to the national Energy Secretariat.

The new HVDC line will strength Mexico's electricity trade with the US state of California.

The $1.1 billion 1,400-km circuit line will span between Mexicali, Baja California, and Hermosillo, Sonora, and is expected to begin operating in the first quarter of 2021.

The project will also allow the construction of more renewable generation and gas-fired capacity in Mexico's northwestern region.

The government published the draft for the terms of the tendering procedure. The final terms will be published in January.

"The increase in the number of clean energy plants added to the growing current electricity demand requires a transmission extension of the electric grid," Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, Mexico's Energy Secretary.

Mexico is expected to add 7 GW of new generation worth $8.6 billion as a result of its first three long-term electricity auctions.

Guillermo Garcia Alcocer, CRE president commissioner, said at the event that Mexico would install an additional 55.8 GW of generation capacity worth $97 billion by 2031. Of this, 63 % of the new capacity will be renewable generation.

Source: Platts