en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has approved a credit line of up to $500 million for the trust fund of Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) for conventional power generation projects. This trust utilizes a PIDIREGAS-type (project-financed) off-balance-sheet structure, allowing funds to be drawn when specific generation projects reach commissioning milestones. The financing targets gas-fired combined-cycle power plants, which are the backbone of CFE's new dispatchable capacity additions through 2030, with each unit costing between $347 million and $704 million.
Combined with the $300 million financing from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) approved in December 2025 and a framework agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) reached in May 2026, the CABEI credit line brings total multilateral development financing for Mexico's power infrastructure to over $950 million. Against the backdrop of a real 16.7% cut in the federal budget (2026), this concessional capital provides partial funding for CFE to support its $30 billion expansion plan.
The European Commission has approved the merger of Grupo México's power generation assets with Saavi Energía, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the transaction to close by the third quarter of 2026. Valued at $5.5 billion, the deal creates a platform with Grupo México and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners holding a 70/30 stake, comprising 14 power plants with a total installed capacity of 4,510 MW, surpassing Cox's 2,600 MW, plus approximately 5,000 MW of projects under construction. Strategically, the merger represents a vertical integration for Grupo México's Southern Copper mining operations, securing low-cost electricity supply for one of the world's largest copper producers.
On June 29, CFE Director General Emilia Calleja convened representatives from 29 of Mexico's 32 states to formally launch the "CFE Conectada Contigo" mechanism, aimed at addressing frequent local grid failures and peak summer demand. The initiative is supported by a 2025-2026 distribution equipment renewal plan worth 15 billion pesos, covering 301,000 utility poles, 34,000 kilometers of conductors, and 1.695 million new meters, as part of a broader 244 billion peso transmission and distribution expansion plan through 2030. A politically significant detail: the three most industrially intensive states most affected by summer blackouts—Nuevo León, Coahuila, and San Luis Potosí—were absent. Reports indicate the Nuevo León delegation was watching a World Cup match at the time.
Mexico dropped four places in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 2026 Energy Transition Index, ranking 59th out of 120 economies, with a system performance score of 66.9 but a transition readiness score of just 41, a gap of 25 points reflecting a deterioration in regulatory, investment, and infrastructure enabling conditions over the past seven years. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia all surpassed Mexico this year; in Latin America, Mexico now trails Chile (20th), Colombia (43rd), and Argentina (56th). The decline from 37th place in 2018 to 59th in 2026 is closely tied to the suspension of clean energy auctions, declining certainty for private investment, and structural dependence on natural gas, whose costs have risen sharply throughout 2026 due to the Iran conflict.
Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has commissioned a battery energy storage system (BESS) at the Rafael Galván Maldonado photovoltaic plant in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. Phases 1 and 2 are now supplying 72 MW of storage and 400 MW of solar generation capacity to the national grid. Two additional phases under construction will add 174 MW of storage and 600 MW of generation capacity, bringing the plant's total storage to 246 MW and generation capacity to 1,000 MW. Upon completion, the plant will be the largest photovoltaic facility in the Americas, with a total investment exceeding $1.4 billion.
