México has a large potential of high enthalpy geothermal resources, as shown by existing geothermal fields in exploration and exploitation for power generation. In addition, a large number of sites containing thermal manifestations have been considered as low and medium enthalpy, and could be proposed for utilization in direct uses of geothermal energy. However, the direct use of geothermal systems in México is not developed. Some of the poorly studied or explored sites that are considered as low or medium enthalpy might have the potential to generate electricity; therefore, the Mexican Centre for Innovation on geothermal energy (CeMIE-Geo) has launched a campaign of geothermal exploration projects in various parts of the country, including a project for regional evaluation of geothermal potential and definition of the geothermal provinces. One important stage of regional exploration includes the characterization of the thermal regime related with heat transfer from the deep parts of the crust toward the surface. The thermal regime is defined by the surface heat flow and the geothermal gradient; therefore, here we present the results of the CeMIE-Geo project that aims to developing maps of heat flow and geothermal gradient, in order to assess the geothermal resources of the country and to help locating possible favorable areas for exploitation. In this work 700 heat flow data were compiled to integrate a new database, which consists of 519 published and 181 new data. The new heat flow data were calculated with temperature logs [Borehole Transient Temperature (TBT) and Bottom-Hole Temperature (BHT)] from geothermal and oil exploration wells. This new database contains sites mostly in northern México. It is valuable to define areas with thermal anomalies and classify areas with low, medium and high enthalpy geothermal resources according to the observed heat flow values.

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