Clean Energy Cost-Savings: A Study of Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)

Clean Energy Cost-Savings: A Study of Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)

The figure quantifies the savings per MWh that CFE has when avoiding bringing thermal plants into service, thanks to the availability of clean energy contracted through long-term auctions. From the above comparison, it can be concluded that, in areas of Mexico that are fully interconnected, depending on the type of power plant replaced: • The renewable energy contracted during the first auction represents a savings to CFE of: o 62% vs. the variable cost of fuel oil–fired steam power plants; o 4% vs. the variable cost of Petacalco coal-fired plant, that operate with imported coal. • The renewable energy contracted during the second auction represents a savings of: o 74% vs. the variable cost of fuel oil–fired steam plants; o 33% vs. the variable cost of Petacalco coal-fired power plant; and o 29% vs. the variable cost of natural gas–fired steam plants. • The renewable energy contracted during the third auction represents a savings of: o 84% vs. the variable cost of fuel oil–fired steam power plants; o 59% vs. the variable cost of Petacalco coal-fired plant; o 57% vs. the variable cost of natural gas–fired steam plants; and o 37% vs. the variable cost of the two coal-fired power plants that use domestic coal.

Figure 6. Net Savings from Clean Energy Long-Term Auctions

Note that these savings do not include the market value of the CEL certificates that come with the

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