Mexican authorities have announced plans to develop Latin America’s largest PV plant in Puerto Penasco, in the state of Sonora. Mexican President Manuel Lopez Obrador and state-owned utility Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) CEO Manuel Bartlett Díazannounced the plans.
The plant is expected to cover an area of 2,000 hectares and will involve the deployment of a new connection line. Authorities also estimate that the project will require an investment of about $2 billion. The project is suspected to be a private-public partnership as the current administration opposes sole permit for private investors in power assets.
CFE is currently developing two solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 350MW in the state of Baja, California. However, in May 2020, Mexico’s National Energy Control Center (CENACE) imposed new restrictions on clean energy deployment, citing the need for energy security during the Covid-19 pandemic. The restrictions halted grid connections for new solar and wind power projects until further notice.
Mexico’s largest operational solar PV plant is currently the 750MW Villanueva plant, built by Enel in 2016.