Mexico: Most of Mexico ’s electricity generation comes from conventional thermal sources, chiefly natural gas.

Mexico had 56.3 gigawatts of installed electricity generating capacity in 2007. The country generated 245 billion kilowatthours (Bkwh) of electric power in 2008. Conventional thermal generation represents the overwhelming majority of Mexico’s electricity generation, though the mix from these sources is gradually shifting from oil products to natural gas. Mexico consumed 201 Bkwh of electric power in 2007

State-owned Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) is the dominant player in the generation sector, controlling about two-thirds of installed generating capacity. CFE also holds a monopoly on electricity transmission and distribution. In 2009, CFE absorbed the operations of Luz y Fuerza del Centro, a state-owned company that managed distribution of electricity in Mexico City. The Comision Reguladora de Energia (CRE) has principle regulatory oversight of the electricity sector.

Changes to Mexican law in 1992 opened the generation sector to private participation. Any company seeking to establish private electricity generating capacity or begin importing/exporting electric power must attain a permit from CRE. As of the end of 2008, private generators held about 22,700 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity, mostly consisting of combined-cycle, gas-fired turbines (CCGFT). CFE also operates Mexico’s national transmission grid, which consists of 27,000 miles of high voltage lines, 28,000 miles of medium voltage lines, and 370,000 miles of low voltage distribution lines.

In the past, fuel oil and diesel fuel represented the largest share of the feedstock in Mexico’s conventional thermal generation mix. However, natural gas consumption for electricity generation has risen dramatically in recent years, and natural gas is now the dominant feedstock. According to Mexico’s Energy Secretariat (Sener), Mexico consumed 870 trillion Btus of natural gas for electricity generation in 2008, versus 430 trillion Btu of petroleum products. This shift has been the principle driver behind Mexico’s rising natural gas consumption. Coal consumption by the electricity sector has also risen in recent years, reaching 205 trillion Btu in 2008

Mexico has a single nuclear power plant, the 1,400-MW Laguna Verde nuclear reactor in Veracruz, operated by CFE. In April 2007, CFE awarded a contract to an international consortium headed by Alstom to modernize the plant and increase generating capacity by 20 percent. Hydroelectricity supplied about 16 percent of Mexico’s electricity generation in 2008. The largest plant in the country is the 2,400-MW Manuel Moreno Torres in Chiapas. Non-hydro renewables represented about 4 percent of total generation in 2008.