The Baja California Sur power station is a combined cycle gas turbine plant located in La Paz, Mexico, that CFE originally pledged 9.8 billion pesos to build. Since that announcement, tracking by Global Energy Monitor shows the project slipped from a 2026 commissioning target to disappearing entirely from CFE’s 2023 annual report and 2024 to 2028 business plan, leaving its future in doubt.
Baja California Sur Power Station Sits Amid a Wider CFE Buildout
While this plant’s status is unclear, CFE has kept investing heavily in the peninsula and beyond, including a newly announced 240 MW combined cycle plant in nearby Los Cabos. That mirrors how Canada’s Enbridge is expanding its own gas network in British Columbia through the Sunrise Expansion Program, another utility betting on gas infrastructure to meet rising regional demand.
Project Overview
- Project Name: Baja California Sur power station, also known as Planta CC Baja California Sur or Tres Virgenes CC
- Location: La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
- Project Value: 9.8 billion Mexican pesos, per CFE’s original announcement
- Client/Owner: Comisión Federal de Electricidad
- Key Components: Combined cycle gas turbine generation, originally cited at 327 MW capacity
- Current Status: Commissioning was pushed to 2026 as of late 2022, but the project was absent from CFE’s 2023 annual report and 2024 to 2028 business plan, per Global Energy Monitor
- Main Contractor: Not yet disclosed
- Strategic Impact: Intended to reinforce electricity supply on the Baja California Sur peninsula, which remains isolated from Mexico’s national grid
Project Team
- Client/Owner: Comisión Federal de Electricidad
- Tracking Source: Global Energy Monitor
Reported 16th December 2023: Currently under construction, the Baja California Sur power station, also known as the Planta CC Baja California Sur, or the Tres Virgenes CC, is a gas fired power project that is based in Mexico’s La Paz, Baja California Sur state.
The project is said to be a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant, suggesting that it relies on gas and steam turbines to be employed in combination to have a greater effect unlike how it would be if used independently.
Also read: Preliminary work has commenced on a 10-megawatt Hydro-Power Station at Lake Gwayi Shangani
Construction works on the Baja California Sur power station began in 2023, regardless of facing opposition from the private sector.
The project funding
It is said that the Comisión Federal de Electricidad invested a staggering 9.8 billion Mexico pesos for the execution of the project.
A power utility company, Comisión Federal de Electricidad fully owns the project and it is overseeing its undertaking. The company is experienced in carrying out generation, transmission, distribution as well as supply of electricity. It also specializes in the commercialization of electricity.
The company uses a number of renewable energy sources to produce electricity. These sources include thermal sources, coal-fired sources, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal as well as nuclear power plants.
The Baja California Sur power station project’s capacity
The CCGT Power Plant project boasts 327 MW. Subsequent to the construction works beginning in 2023, the project is expected to commence commercial operations next year.
About CFE
Comisión Federal de Electricidad purchases, transports, imports, exports, as well as sells fuel oil and natural gas. Normally, the company plans, carries out projects along with installations, per the requirements of the national electricity system.
It has its headquarters based in Juarez, a Federal District in Mexico. The company also provides services for residential, commercial agricultural and industrial customers. It also serves state as well as central agencies.
Similarly, the New Fortress Energy, a financier, designer, and also a builder of gas-fired power generation as well as industrial facilities, ramped up construction works at its Baja California Sur’s gas fired power plant. The 135 MW power plant was anticipated to supply electricity to the local grid in the second quarter of 2021.
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