Geothermal Production and Development Plans in Mexico

Abstract

Geothermal resources in Mexico are used mostly to produce electrical energy. Direct uses of geothermal are practically restricted to bathing and swimming pools. Up to present, the geothermal electric capacity is 755 megawatts (MW), which is installed in the Mexican geothermal fields of Cerro Prieto (620 MW), Los Azufres (93 MW) and Los Humeros (42 MW). Two geothermal electric projects are now under construction: Cerro Prieto IV (100 MW) and Las Tres VÌrgenes I (10 MW). The first is expected to be in operation by July 2000, and the second by the beginning of 2001, so increasing the capacity by 15% to reach 860 MW. The annual geothermal production in Mexico (1999) is around 56 million metric tons of steam, at an annual average rate of 6,400 tons per hour. This amount of steam is produced by an average of 164 geothermal wells, whose depths vary from 600 to 3,500 meters. In the last five years, 51 new production wells were drilled, for a total of 123 kilometers. Twenty-seven geothermal power plants are operating in the three Mexican fields. They generated 5,619 gigawatts-hour (GWh) in 1999, with an annual average capacity factor of 86% and a specific consumption of 10 tons per megawatt-hour. Geothermal electricity generation represented 3.2% of the total electric energy produced in Mexico in 1999.