CFE advances with electrical infrastructure for the Maya Train; will boost growth in the southeast of the country

By Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

• At the end of 2024, with the Maya Train, the maximum demand in the Yucatán Peninsula will be 2,642 MW. By then, the available supply will be 4,042 MW, thanks to the Mérida (499 MW) and Valladolid (1,020 MW) CCCs.

The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will electrify 44 percent of the Maya Train route -690 kilometers (km)-, for which two Combined Cycle Power Plants (CCC) and 53 connection works, train traction power and voltage regulation. This railway project requires the construction of a comprehensive electrical system to integrate it into the National Electrical System.

During the morning conference with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the general director of the CFE, Manuel Bartlett Díaz, detailed the 53 works carried out by the Corporate Directorate of Engineering and Infrastructure Projects (DCIPI), which are grouped into 7 Electrical Substations Tractors (SET) and are divided into 2 stages.

• Stage 1. SETs 1, 2 and 3 packages

It comprises 19 works for the Mérida-Cancún region and presents the following progress:

-7 Substation works 1.82%

-6 Substation works 2.89%

-6 Substation works 3.73%

Operational tests will take place in May 2023, and energization and commissioning in October 2023.

• Stage 2. SETs 4, 5, 6 and 7 packages

They integrate 34 works for the Cancun-Chetumal region and present the following progress:

-7 Substation works 4.16%

-10 Substation works 5.15%

-10 Substation works 6.20%

-7 Substation works 7.24%

An overall advance of 20% is recorded. They will be completed and commissioned in November 2023.

Additionally, the CFE has all the permits, land, and easements required for the works, which consist of a social impact assessment, indigenous consultation, archaeological salvage, construction licenses, paid real estate rights, and provisional authorizations (environmental and change of use) of soil.

In the 27 electrical substations that are built next to the train tracks and highways, green walls will be planted with native flora. 13,000 square meters will be reforested, with 2,300 trees and shrubs of 8 species from the region. In 78 crossings of the train tracks with high voltage lines, 49 adaptation works have already been completed, 3 are under construction and 26 are planned.

Within the indigenous consultation process, the CFE received 259 requests in 15 assemblies: 114 requests for rehabilitation, maintenance and expansion of the electrical network, as well as requests to improve the infrastructure and services of the localities, 84 have already been attended to, 27 will finish be built in July 2023 and 3 are in budget management.

Bartlett Díaz also reported the works that CFE Distribución carries out to adapt the operational network through 170 electric power services, distributed in 556 kilometers of medium voltage lines:

• 445 kilometers will be aerial, and
• 111 kilometers will be underground.
• 5,562 poles

Increases the capacity in the electrical substations: Kanasín, Tulum and Insurgentes.

Additionally, these 556 kilometers will have:

• 117 technical booths
• 34 stations and stops
• 6 workshops and garages
• 8 maintenance bases
• 3 building of the Sedena.

The works are 21% complete (10 services completed and 160 will end in July 2023).

The 170 services are divided into 6 packages:

• Package 1 Yucatan. Sections 3 and 4

-34 services

-102 km of medium voltage line

-It will conclude in July 2023

• Package 2 Campeche. Sections 1, 2, 3 and 7

-58 services

-124 km of medium voltage line

-It will conclude between May and June 2023

• Package 3 Cancun. Sections 4 and 5

-14 services

-51 km of medium voltage line

-It will conclude in June 2023

• Package 4 Riviera Maya. Sections 5 and 6

18 service

165 km of medium voltage line

It will conclude in July 2023

• Package 5 Chetumal. Sections 6 and 7

-33 services

-75 km of medium voltage line

-It will conclude in July 2023

• Package 6 Southeast. Section 1

-13 services

-40 km of medium voltage line

-Three will end in November 2022 and 10 will end in May 2023

To feed the 170 services, a total of 48 distribution substations and 92 distribution circuits will be used, and the execution of works is being supervised at 365 medium voltage line crossings that need to be modified due to the passage of train tracks, which, 120 are completed and 245 in process.

The CFE, present at the Maya Train, a project to transform the Yucatan Peninsula and 5 south-southeast states, remains faithful to its mission of promoting growth and progress in Mexico.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnLHRYnBSJ8&feature=youtu.be