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CFE inaugurates 27 MW Las Azufres III-2 (Phase 2), Unit 18

CFE inaugurates 27 MW Las Azufres III-2 (Phase 2), Unit 18 President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visiting the Los Azufres III Phase 2 (unit 18) plant, Dec. 2019 (source: CFE)
Alexander Richter 22 Dec 2019

CFE has officially inaugurated the 27 MW Los Azufres Unit 18 (Los Azufres III Phase 2) geothermal power plant in Michoacán.

As reported today, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and General Director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), Manuel Bartlett Díaz, inaugurated Unit 18 of the Geothermal Power Plant “Los Azufres “. Unit 18 (Los Azufres III Phase 2) will allow the “Los Azufres” plant to operate with greater availability, reliability and lower cost

This project had an investment of $51 million dollars and generated up to 550 temporary jobs.  The inauguration is part of a tour to supervise the electrical infrastructure of the country.

Unit 18 provides an additional capacity of 27 MW with a 3 percent increase in current geothermal power. This project included the construction of the Switching Azufres Sur Substation as an associated work, which allows the plant to operate with greater availability, reliability and lower cost.

At the inauguration of Unit 18, the CFE general director explained to the president that “Los Azufres” is made up of 10 power generating units with a total capacity of 252 megawatts and stressed that Michoacán is one of the entities that produces all of its energy from renewable sources.

The CFE general director also stressed that the “Los Azufres” plant, located in the Sierra de San Andrés, in the municipality of Hidalgo, in Michoacán, contributes almost 1,600 GWh to the National Electric System, which represents supplying approximately 1.7 times the total consumption of electrical energy to the city of Morelia, benefiting 1.1 million inhabitants.

Later, during the dialogue led by the president with workers of generation, transmission, distribution and basic supply, the head of the CFE said that despite the energy reform, the workers never changed their nationalist spirit in favor of society and called them to close ranks in favor of the projects that will be promoted for rescue.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador informed that, after an evaluation meeting with the CFE holder, it was possible to determine that the State company will restructure its debt and be profitable for the benefit of the country.

He stressed that the CFE is the most important company in the world, having first-class facilities and trained personnel, who will help boost the rescue of the company and the development of the country.

“We are determined to rescue the energy sector, to take forward the CFE and Pemex, two fundamental companies of the nation, and turn it into a lever for national development,” the president reaffirmed.

He indicated that the company will be invested so that at the end of the six-year period the power generation is 56 percent, and perhaps up to 60 or 70 percent for the CFE; and recalled one of his commitments: that the price of electricity does not increase in real terms.

Finally, the president thanked the workers for their commitment to their administration and asked to apply their saving and austerity principles, which allow the government to be costly for society.

They also accompanied the president, the governor of Michoacán, Silvano Aureoles; the head of Energy, Rocío Nahle García; the regional coordinator of the Single Union of Electrical Workers of the Mexican Republic (SUTERM), Vinicio Limón Rivera and the municipal president of Hidalgo, Michoacán, José Luis Téllez Marín.

Source: CFE