The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) confirmed that a power outage occurred Thursday night, May 14, affecting several areas in the municipalities of Mérida, Yucatán; Benito Juárez and Solidaridad, Quintana Roo; Centro, Centla, Cunduacán, and Macuspana, Tabasco; and Reforma, Chiapas.
“The outage began at 9:03 p.m. With the activation of CFE’s backup generating units, immediate attention was given to the event, allowing for the full restoration of power by 9:52 p.m.,” the electric company explained.
By the end of the day, the CFE stated that it had fully restored power to the affected areas.
“The CFE maintains constant coordination with the National Energy Control Center (CENACE) and local authorities, carrying out the necessary operations to restore power to the region,” it indicated.
Why were there power outages in southern Mexico?
According to information from CENACE (National Center for Energy Control), at 9:00 PM, 2,508 MW of electricity were demanded in the Yucatán Peninsula region of the National Interconnected System, far exceeding the region’s electricity generation during that time (1,617 MW).
The institution no longer publicly reports operational alerts for the electrical system, so only market operators have access to this information.
Traditionally, heat waves that begin in May put the country’s electrical system to the test, as the demand for electricity increases to power cooling systems, refrigerators, fans, etc.
This summer, CENACE expects electricity demand in Mexico to reach a new all-time high of up to 54,000 megawatts during the hottest months of the year (May through the end of summer).
One of the critical areas remains the Yucatán Peninsula, where emergency generation is planned to reinforce the supply.
“An emergency 150 megawatts of power will be delivered from portable generators belonging to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) that are being relocated,” revealed Octavio Mota Palomino, former director of CENACE, in an interview.
To date, the historical record for electricity demand was set on June 21, 2023, which at the time represented a 10 percent jump compared to the previous year, well above the typical natural growth of 3 or 4 percent.
Source: elfinanciero
