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Mexico’s electricity sector is dominated by Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), which holds a monopoly in the power transmission segment. Mexico’s transmission network is spread across 53 regions. Of these, 49 regions are interconnected, and the remaining four regions form an isolated group in Baja California Sur. The national interconnected system is known as Sistema Eléctrico Nacional (SEN).
As of December 2019, the transmission network in Mexico comprised about 105,750 km of line length at 115 kV and above voltage levels. Of the total line length, the majority, or about 48 per cent, was at 115 kV, followed by 28 per cent at 230 kV and 24 per cent at 400 kV. Since 2015, Mexico’s transmission line network has increased marginally, with net additions being a little over 4,258 km, growing at a CAGR of 1.03 per cent between 2015 and 2019. Meanwhile, the transformer capacity of Mexico stood at 163 GVA as of 2019.
Further, in 2020, CFE is expected to invest MXN602 million in the maintenance of power transmission lines (conductors or semiconductors system power transmission).
Table 1: Growth in Mexico's transmission line network (km)
Voltage |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019E |
–115 kV |
46,147 |
46,326 |
47853 |
48,013 |
48,694 |
–138 kV |
1,608 |
1,152 |
1691 |
1,779 |
1,817 |
–161 kV |
522 |
523 |
519 |
519 |
519 |
–230 kV |
28,518 |
28,476 |
29095 |
29,115 |
29,265 |
–400 kV |
24,697 |
24,714 |
24747 |
25,455 |
25,455 |
Total |
101,492 |
101,191 |
103,905 |
104,881 |
105,750 |
Note: 2019 data based on CAGR during the period 2009-18.
Source: SENER; Global Transmission Research
Figure 1: Growth in Mexico’s transformer capacity (MVA)
Source: Sistema de Información Energética (SIE); SENER; Global Transmission Research