The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) recently published a call for tenders to build five electrical generation plants around the country, but with one notable omission. A plant for Baja California Sur was not included.
In March, the CFE said it would publish a call for tenders for a combined cycle plant in the state, with construction to start in 2021. Yet in April it published calls for tenders for five new plants as part of its business plan for 2021 to 2025 but made no mention of Baja California Sur.
It turns out that the business plan for that period now calls for the new plant to begin operating in 2024.
President López Obrador said during a visit to the state in August last year that a new plant would be build “in the short term” and end the power blackouts.
Meanwhile, the blackouts continue due to what the CFE has called “technical failures” and “deficits in energy generation.” Similar reasons were cited for blackouts in the summer of 2019.
The outages have come as summer temperatures begin to rise, creating more demand for electricity as people turn on their air conditioners.
“The blackouts started in May, a situation that will make us more vulnerable to energy shortages in the month of August, when temperatures peak and a fan or even air conditioner are basic necessities in any Baja California home,” said Senator Audelia Villarreal, who had questioned the new plant’s absence in the call for tenders.
She called on the CFE to resolve the energy shortages, and asked that it CFE provide more information on the cause of the energy shortage. She explained that the exclusion of her state from the call for tenders was a grave setback.
Sources: Diario el Independiente (sp), BCS Noticias (sp)
