Background

The Mexican power grid is divided into nine zones and the proposed project will be located in the northeast zone, which includes the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, a large part of Coahuila and some municipalities from San Luis Potosí. According to the Power Sector
Capital Improvement Program for the Energy Sector for 2012-2026 (POISE) develop by the Mexican federal electricity comission, Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the generation capacity of the northeast zone was 7,587 megawatts (MW) in 2011, and during the previous five years energy demand in the zone experienced an average annual growth
rate of 4.9%.

To promote the use of renewable energy, the Mexican federal government has enacted two laws over the past six years, which specify, among other provisions, that the Mexican Ministry of Energy (SENER), in coordination with CFE and the Energy Regulatory Commission
(CRE), must be responsible for increasing the use of clean technologies in power generation to at least 35% by 2024.

Description

The scope of the Project is to design, build and operate a wind farm with a capacity of 49.5 MW, which is part of a larger project to be developed in the Mesa El Melón region. The main project components include the installation of 15 wind turbines, each with 3.3 MW of nominal capacity, construction of one substation and a transmission line. The energy generated by each wind turbine will be conveyed to the substation through 34.5 kilovolt (kV) underground lines. The Project will be interconnected to CFE´s Güémez substation through a 115 kV overhead transmission line extending 26.7 km (16.6 miles).

The project also includes a supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA) to monitor and control the operation of each turbine, as well as the Project as a whole from a central computer or a remote PC to ensure that the machines are running in an efficient and safe manner.

The energy generated will be purchased by Grupo Soriana pursuant to a
long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). 

Benefits

The Project will help reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants produced by traditional hydrocarbon-based energy generation, while providing local residents with a safe and reliable energy alternative. The anticipated environmental outcomes are the displacement of 72,345 metric tons/year of carbon dioxide, 0.4 metricton/year of sulfur dioxide, and 252 metric tons/year of nitrogen oxides.

In addition, this project will support natural resource conservation by reducing the demand on fossil fuels and by not requiring water for electricity production. The Project is anticipated to produce approximately 184 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of zero-carbon electricity per
year, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 25,733 households.