Mexico to expand transmission capacity to support wind energy

Mexico’s state power utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad plans to boost transmission capacity in the north of the country to better utilise wind farms in the state of Tamaulipas, energy secretary Rocio Nahle Garcia has announced.

By 2024, the company plans to invest MXN 9 billion (€449 million) to build 609km of transmission line. 

“We need this quantity of transmission line because we need to evacuate the electricity that is concentrated in a number of projects that were undertaken in an unplanned manner,” the official said during a visit to the state with president Andrés Manual López Obrador.

There is around 1.7GW of wind capacity installed in Tamaulipas, which is the country’s largest energy producer with almost 11% of installed energy capacity.

López Obrador has criticised the rapid development of wind energy by private investors and sought to strengthen state control over the energy sector.