Business giant Carlos Slim’s energy company was granted a permit to develop an $80 million geothermal energy facility on Sept. 1, as the firm expands its position in Mexico’s energy market. 

Energías Alternas, Estudios y Proyectos (Grupo Enal), a subsidiary of Slim’s Grupo Carso, has been granted a 30-year concession to develop geothermal resources for electricity generation in Celaya, in the Bajío state of Guanajuato. The Celaya plant is expected to have an installed capacity of 26 megawatts.  

“The purpose of the concession title is to grant the Concessionaire the right to use, exploit and exclusively exploit the Celaya Geothermal Area… for the purpose of generating electricity, as well as allocating the geothermal resource to various uses,” reads the title published in the federal government’s Official Gazette on Sept. 1. 

New regulations granted under Mexico’s energy reform, which was approved by Congress in March, allow the Energy Ministry (Sener) to issue permits and grant concession titles for geothermal energy exploration. 

Under the reform’s Geothermal Law, Sener can now directly award titles without the need for bidding, a significant change from the previous system that favored competition between companies.  

The change is expected to enhance access to concessions for private companies and is aimed at accelerating the development of Mexico’s renewable energy resources in line with the government’s target of adding electricity generation and spurring greater energy diversification. 

Grupo Enal has expanded its position in Mexico’s energy sector in recent years, both in electricity and hydrocarbons. The firm has partnered with the state-owned oil company Pemex to increase production, as well as invest in renewable energy, with a focus on Mexico’s geothermal assets.

In April, GSM-Bronco, another Grupo Carso subsidiary, won a bid to drill three exploratory geothermal wells in the border state of Baja California, beating competitors such as Weatherford with its US $45 million winning bid.  

With reports from El Universal, El Financiero and Energía Hoy