The Mexican Energy Ministry has issued 24 new exploration permits and six production permits for the development of geothermal energy projects.
The production permits have been assigned to the 570 MW Cerro Prieto plant, which provides 40% of the electricity of Baja California, 10 MW Tres Virgenes also in Baja California, 225 MW Los Azufres and the 80.4 MW Los Humeros fields. These four projects will be held by the Mexican Federal Commission of Electricity.
Mexico currently has 920 MW of geothermal capacity and the government is expecting an additional 750 MW by 2029. From those, 100 MW will come from the Volcán Ceburuco in Michoacán and 75 MW from Cerritos Colorado and plans have been made for the expansion in capacity of some existing fields. From the 24 exploration permits, five have been issued for the state of Jalisco, four for Michoacán, Nayarit and Baja California, three for Puebla, two for Guanajuato, one for Baja California Sur and one for Chiapas.
