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CFE cancels tender for development of Los Humeros geothermal plant in Puebla, Mexico

CFE cancels tender for development of Los Humeros geothermal plant in Puebla, Mexico Los Humeros geothermal power plant, Puebla, Mexico (source: gemex-h2020.eu)
Alexander Richter 20 Jul 2020

Launched in late June 2020, CFE has now cancelled the tender for the construction of the planned Los Humeros geothermal power plant in Puebla, Mexico.

The state utility of Mexico, Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has canceled the tenders for the expansion of the Los Humeros geothermal plant, in Chignautla, Puebla, as well as two combined cycle power plants in San Luis Potosí and Salamanca, in addition to a combustion plant internal in Baja California Sur.

The La Silla Rota portal reported that the commission argued that the effects on productivity and the world economy, which has generated the Covid-19 pandemic, have also impacted the country, so it decided to suspend the process in order to comply with the government policy of non-indebtedness in order to optimize economic resources.

The Los Humeros tender was published only at the end of June 2020 and was part of the expansion plan of the state-owned company.

It contemplated the construction of the second phase of the plant, which is located in the Los Humeros geothermal field, in the municipality of Chignautla, which is the eastern region of the state of Puebla and the western region of the state of Veracruz, 32 kilometers northwest of the city ??of Perote.

“(It is) a geothermal electric power generation plant with a guaranteed net capacity of 25 MW (…) considering geothermal condensation steam as a driving fluid, made up of a geothermal condensation steam turbine, a cooling system using a wet type cooling tower, main and auxiliary transformers, and all equipment including the transmission system, “was described.

The work was planned with 100 percent private contributions through a three-year international public bidding contract that included the design, construction, equipment and installation, without specifying the estimated investment for execution.
They expected investment of more than USD 1.1 billion.

Together, the four projects canceled by the CFE involved an investment of about USD 1,127 million  (USD 1.127 billion), and the combined cycle power plants were going to involve new installed capacity to generate electricity, based on natural gas, for more than 1,600 MW.

The company led by Manuel Bartlett had announced the construction of new capacity from natural gas-based generation, as one of the ways for the commission to have more capacity.

The contracts were for the development companies to coordinate the construction of the project under the control of CFE.

Among the more than 70 companies interested in each of the procedures, companies such as Veolia, Techint, Siemens, Mitsubishi, General Electric, Acciona or Abengoa stand out.

The CFE disclaimed any liability or compensation associated with the costs of the participants who submitted offers.

Source: E-Consulta