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Mexico denies generation permit to Iberdrola's Dulces Nombres CCGT plant

The Mexican Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has refused to extend Iberdrola's generation permit for the 790 MW Dulces Nombres CCGT plant in Pesquería, Nuevo León. The decision was later confirmed by the Mexican presidency. In December 2021, the Spanish energy group was denied a modification of its permit for the power plant, a measure that was necessary for it to continue operating. The power plant's clients (more than 400,000 companies) will be taken over by the state-owned power utility Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

Mexico is considering shutting down private power plants. Indeed, the constitutional reform proposed in October 2021 to strengthen the role of CFE within the electricity sector would give preferential treatment to the CFE over private firms, guaranteeing CFE a share of at least 54% in power generation (46% for private power generation companies). It would also cancel contracts under which 34 private power plants sell power into the national grid and it would declare illegal another 239 private power plants that sell energy directly to corporate clients. In addition, the proposed reform would cancel many long-term power supply contracts and renewable-energy preferential buying scheme. This would affect Iberdrola, the largest independent power producer (IPP) in Mexico, with a capacity of 10.6 GW in 2020 (12% of the total).

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