Combined-Cycle Power Reaches Record Level

Electricity generation in Mexico through combined-cycle power plants—which use turbines powered by heat from the combustion of natural gas as well as steam—totaled 127,968 MW/h in the first seven months of the year, a volume that represents a historic high for the country and marks a year-over-year increase of 1.9%, while already exceeding the 2018 figure by 35%.

Furthermore, electricity production from combined-cycle plants accounted for 60.3% of the national total in July, when national electricity generation stood at 212,220 MW/h, according to reports from the Ministry of Energy compiled by the Energy Monitor of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO).

Because the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has begun operating infrastructure for this type of power generation—which depends entirely on the availability of natural gas—imports of natural gas have also reached record levels.

During the first seven months of the year, the CFE alone generated 98,745 MW/h using combined-cycle technology, indicating that 77% of electricity production using this technology—which is carried out by the state-owned company—according to the Energy Information System of the Ministry of Energy.

Plants owned by the CFE and operated by its staff generated 41,933 MW/h, accounting for 42% of the electricity from combined-cycle plants that the company fed into the national grid; while companies that supply all of their production to the state-owned electric utility as independent power producers (IPPs) generated a cumulative total of 56,812 MW/h, accounting for 58% of the CFE’s combined-cycle electricity production.