Opportunities for electricity

generation and direct use of

geothermal energy in Mexico
on a small scale.
By
Mnica Rius Garcia

Masters thesis in Renewable Energy, Enterprise

and Management.
Supervisor: Catherine Gandy
Newcastle Upon Tyne, August 2016

Newcastle University
Faculty of Mechanical and Systems Engineering

2| P a g e

3| Page

Declaration
I hereby certify that this work is my own, except where otherwise acknowledged, and
that it has not been submitted previously for a degree at this, or any other university.

Mnica Rius Garca

4| P a g e

Abstract
Be written last (even though it is located at the beginning of the document), after the
Report is completed.
o Be less than one page long typically half to two-thirds of a page (eg 250 words).
o Not be just an Introduction to the Report a very common error.
o It must summarise the whole Report including brief statements (typically a sentence or
two for each item) of:
Scope or general context/aim
All specific objectives
All conclusions, including brief indication of final results achieved

By
Mnica Rius Garcia
The abstract is a brief summary of your thesis, and should not be more than a page. In an
academic publication, the abstract should always be the first section after the title page.

5| Page

Acknowledgement
Firstly, I would like to thanks to my project supervisor Dr. Catherine, for his advide and
guidance throught the dissertation.
I would like to thanks CONACYT and SENER for the opportunity they have me to
continuous my studies. I would like to thanks my family which there encourangemtn ,
support and help thour all the MSc course.
My supervisor
CONACYT
Thught this year I learn is that the best thing you can do for the wworld is encourage your
passion and that is what really needs the world people with passion for what they do. I
THOURGHT THIS YEAR I CAN assure that this is one oof my main passion , so I am sure
that Ii will made great things for my country.
SENER

Table of Content

6| P a g e

Declaration...................................................................................iii
Abstract.......................................................................................iv
Acknowledgement.........................................................................v
List of Figure..............................................................................viii
List of Table................................................................................viii
Appendix......................................................................................ix
Abbreviations................................................................................x
1
Introduction...........................................................................1
1.1 Background.............................................................................................. 1
1.2 Aim........................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Objectives................................................................................................ 2
1.4 Methodology............................................................................................ 2
2
Literature Review...................................................................5
2.1 Basic Concepts of Geothermal Energy.....................................................5
2.2 Distribution of Geothermal Resources......................................................6
2.3 Types of geothermal systems and Resources...........................................7
2.4 Geothermal Power Plant Technologies......................................................8
2.5 Types of geothermal power plant.............................................................9
2.6 Cascade uses......................................................................................... 10
2.7 Direct Uses............................................................................................. 11
3
Analysis of Mexico.................................................................12
3.1 Introduction............................................................................................ 12
3.2 Mexican Energy Reform..........................................................................14
3.3 New geothermal framework in Mexico...................................................17
3.4 Geothermal in Mexico............................................................................ 20
3.4.1 Electric generation............................................................................. 21
3.4.2 Direct use.......................................................................................... 23
3.5 Geothermal potential............................................................................. 24
4
Case Study...........................................................................26
4.1 Introduction............................................................................................ 26
4.2 Small Geothermal power plants.............................................................27
5
Geothermal Village in Mexico.................................................27
5.1 Introduction............................................................................................ 27
5.2 Description of the area...........................................................................28
5.3 Potential Electricity................................................................................ 34
5.4 Direct Applications................................................................................. 37
5.5 Analysis of the CO2 reduction................................................................38
7| Page

6
Business Strategy.................................................................38
6.1 Stakeholder Identification......................................................................38
6.2 Communication and Control plan...........................................................39
7
Conclusions..........................................................................42
References..................................................................................44
Appendix.......................................................................................1

8| P a g e

List of Figure
Fig. 1. Major Tectonic Plates and the direction of movement (Petersen et al., 2016)

Fig. 2. Flash Steam Plant (After J. Pater Salmon, 2011).........................................8

Fig. 3.Dry Steam Plant. After J. Pater Salmon, 2011)..............................................9
Fig. 4. Binary-Cycle Power Plant. After J. Pater Salmon, 2011)................................9
Fig. 5. Schematic layout of a well-head and central power plants. (After (Gudjosdottir and
Jensson, 2015)).................................................................................................... 10
Fig. 6. Electrical Generation by fuel in 2015(After (Secretaria de Enegia, 2015c)).13
Fig. 7. Areas of the National Electric System (Adapted from (SENER, 2015b)).....14
Fig. 8. New Electric Market Structure (After(SENER, 2016b))................................16
Fig. 9. Mexico's position in relation to tectonic plates (After {Geo-Mexico, 2012 #96})
............................................................................................................................. 20
Fig. 10 Evolution of Geothermal Projects ((SENER, 2016b)...................................21
Fig. 11. Geothermal fields in Mexico at June 2016(Adapted from (Luis C.A. GuitirresNegrn et al., 2015))............................................................................................. 22
Fig. 12. Evolution of installed capacity and generation in geothermal power plants.

23

In 20011 was a decrease in the national geothermic installed capacity due to the decree
of production of some wells in Cerro Prieto, the depletion of resources and a log of the
exploration and exploitation of new deposits. As it can see in Fig.13, the generation in
2014 decreased 18.98% in respect to 2007 which was reported the highest generation
with 7,404 GWh.................................................................................................... 23
Fig. 14.Direct use of U.S.A and Mexico( Adapted from Lund, 2016 #74)..............24
Fig. 15 shows that the 156 MWt, which is the total direct use in Mexico, the install
capacity and annual direct energy use are 0.004MWt and 4.397 TJ/year for individual
space heating; 0.004 MWt and 0.028 TJ/year for greenhouse heating; 0.007 MWt and
0.067 TJ/year for agricultural drying; and 155.347 MWt and 4166.512 TJ/year for bathing
and swimming. {John W. Lund, 2016 #85}..........................................................24
Fig. 16. Installed capacity and expectation of the geothermal growth (MW),(SENER,
2015c).................................................................................................................. 25
Fig. 17. Geothermal Resources in Mexico,(SENER, 2016a).................................25
Fig. 18. Municipalities of Baja California Sur.........................................................28
Fig. 19. Monthly average low and high Temperature of Los Cabos 2014-2015.....29
Fig. 20 Historical and expected Electric energy consumption in BCS from 2004 to 2030
9| Page

............................................................................................................................. 30
Fig. 21 . Expected growth of the demand from 2016 to 2030..............................30
Fig. 22 Evolution of installed capacity and generation in power plants of BCS.....31
Fig. 23. Los Cabos. Geological map and hydrothermal manifestations (after BncoraAlsina and Prol-Ledesma, 2008)...........................................................................32
Fig. 24 Stakeholder Analysis................................................................................. 39

List of Table
Table.1.-Data of the Earth(After (DiPippo, 2012))...................................................5
Table 2. Key institutions of the energy sector.......................................................15
Table 3. Main characteristics of the clean energy certificate scheme (Adapted from
(IRENA, 2015)....................................................................................................... 17
Table 4. Potential geothermal in Mexico (Adapted from {SENER, 2016 #21}).....26
Table 5. Stack holders Analysis............................................................................. 39

Appendix
Appendix 1. Geothermal Financing and Risk Transfer Program..............................1
Appendix 2. Geothermal Financing and Risk Transfer Program..............................1
Appendix 3.Capacity of Transmition in the national electric System......................2
Appendix 4.Utilization of Geothermal Energy for Electric Power Generation as of 31
December 2015 Power Plants in 2015 (Adapted from {SENER, 2015 #17})........39
Appendix 3. Lindal Diagram spectrum (DiPippo, 2012)........................................45
Appendix 4. Project Plan....................................................................................... 46

10| P a g e

Abbreviations

11| Page

1 Introduction
Background
Mexico is privileged to be on the ring fire and had unique geodynamic characteristics for
the develop of geothermal energy. Today is the fourth country with the largest installed
geothermal electricity generation capacity of the countries behind U.S.A, Philippines and
Indonesia with 1,017 MWe distributed in fourth power plants in the country, representing
around 2% of total installed capacity in the country.
The recent energy reforms enacted in 2013, had open the Mexican energy sector for
private companies, including in the field of electricity, inside the transformation of this
area the Mexican government have the goal to produce 35% of electricity from non-fossil
sources by 2024. In 2015 the total electric capacity in the SEN was 68,044 MW and the
generation 309,553 GWh, which only 62,952 GWh is from renewable energy 20% and the
total electric generation only 2.0 % was from geothermal sources. (SENER, 2015d) A
source which has a potential of 6 GW, and will be a key element to achieving the
government's goals (SENER, 2016a)
About the direct use of the geothermal sources Mexico remains scarcely developed, it
presents a low progress compare with other countries like the USA, which have a broad
range of application having 17,416 MWt of thermal energy. In 2015 Mexico had only 156
MWt used mainly for recreation purposes like bathing and swimming.(Luis C.A. GuitirresNegrn et al., 2015)
Mexico is blessed with abundant geothermal resources, which is a source of energy that
can be used in many different ways, the advantages of the direct use of the thermal
energy is underestimated since a lot of the sources remains largely untapped, beside the
high potential to generate electricity. The utilisation for both purposes, electricity and
heat, can generate additional income and employment, but one of the main barriers to
developing this technology is the huge initial investment which is needed.
Geothermal energy also is attractive because of its unique ability among renewable
energy options to generate electricity at a constant rate, unlike the wind or solar energy,
which rely on weather or light conditions. As Mexico attempts to move toward its stated
goal of 35 percent clean energy by 2024, additional geothermal energy would be a
welcome addition, providing a constant base load power at night and under poor weather
conditions.
The secondary aims of this study are to increment the analysis of the geothermal sector
in Mexico bringing the knowledge into solutions, throughout the analysis of the use of
geothermal energy at low and medium enthalpy, under the concept called cascade
utilisation, which combines power generation and subsequent use of geothermal heat for
various direct uses. Furthermore, decrease the CO 2 emissions, which will contribute to
global warming effects.
Aim
12| P a g e

The research questions motivate this study are:

1. How to increase the use of the direct geothermal application in Mexico?
2. How can small geothermal projects can contribute to the national energy matrix?
3. How the use of geothermal energy can help to the develop of the municipy and at
the same time be attractive for private social investors?
4. What can be done with the heat waste of the geothermal power plants?
I am studying the direct and indirect use of geothermal energy in Mexico, because I want
to find out where is good place to use geothermal energy in small scale in order to help
my reader understand the great potential of geothermal energy in Mexico and that it can
help the develop of the communities and at the same time be attractive for social, private
investors.
Objectives
The main objectives of the study to achieve the aim and solve the previous questions of
the project are the following.
1. Identify the best geothermal area in Mexico to start the develop of small
geothermal power plants and direct use.
2. Minimise the energy loss from the geothermal working fluid and make more
attractive this technology, design a possible scheme of cascade use.
3. Find the technology that reduces the payback period of the project, to make it
more attractive.
This study will fill the vast gap in the literature about the develop of the geothermal
technologies in the direct and indirect use in Mexico, reducing the barriers which limited
this develop.
Methodology
The Methodology section informs the reader what overall research methodology you
adopted and why - and what research tools (or methods) you taken to gain and analyse
your result. It can also involve discussing objectively the limitations of the methodology &
methods used. It also describes the participants involved (how many/how they have
selected/their characteristics etc).
Always keep in mind the central point or findings of your report and emphasise these in
your writing. Emphasise them in the results section and emphasise them again in the
conclusion.
What philosophical approach did you take to your research, e.g.
positivistic/phenomenological? Qualitative/quantitative? Inductive/deductive? Why did
you adopt this approach? In retrospect was this the correct approach? What methods
(to gather primary and/or secondary data) did you decide to use and why? What criteria
did you adopt for collecting this data (e.g. target number, age, gender, occupational etc)
13| Page

and why? What was the target sample number? What type of sample was it, e.g. a
random sample? What was the actual number you achieved? Why was there a
shortfall? Where did you collect the data? When did you collect it? Who was
involved in the collection? How did you collect it? How did you analyse it? What
logistical or other problems did you encounter in collecting or analysing it? Results
What was the result of your findings? Were the results affected in any way by any
event, situation or phenomenon? If there was a shortfall in the amount of data you
gained, how have you compensated or dealt with this situation? How does the amount
of data collected by you compare or contrast with previous research in this area of
enquiry? What is the best way of presenting these results in the report?
WHO? Who: might benefit/be disadvantaged/is or is not involved/developed the idea?
WHAT? What: are we taking for granted/assumptions are we making/ is implied that may
not be true/ is missing/ is the background to this idea/is the wider significance/the
advantages and negatives of the idea? WHERE? Where: can it be applied/would it not be
applicable/else could it be relevant? WHY? Why: has this idea been developed/been
introduced/should we pay any attention to it? WHEN? When: is the idea applicable/not
applicable/reasonable or unreasonable to apply/should we start or stop? HOW? How: will
the idea work in practice/be introduced/are people likely to react/wil
The literature review assesses a comprehensive research performed in diverse
information sources, a database of scientific papers, technical journals, conferences and
governmental reports of the core concepts of geothermal energy and the situation in
Mexico.
This document will conduct the analysis of the opportunities of a geothermal village in
Mexico, identifying potential areas which could be the best to development it. This will be
addressed by analysing a database of the National Inventory of the Renewable Energy of
the Mexican Energy Agency (SENER) of the potential of geothermal energy and using
technical journals to support the decision.
The main case studies used for the developing of this document were Geothermal Growth
in 2014 with the implementation of wellhead power plant in Kenya; they added 358 MWe
of capacity and Geothermal Village Samburu, Kenya for the development of rural areas,
geothermal development to meet the demand for electric and thermal energy.
Second, will analyse the reduction of CO 2 emissions of the applications of the geothermal
resource by using the assumption that all the application there were run before with
natural gas.
The proposed project is then comprehensively evaluated through the utilisation of a
SWOT and stakeholders. Finally, the document will outline the whether the project of a
geothermal village in Mexico is practical, technically and financially viable.

Explain more each chapter and what and how was done on it
In chapter 3, Analysis of Mexico , the main elements used was the governmental program
14| P a g e

of Proseden ,using in all the situation the planned scenario with scenario o
Programa de Desarrollo del Sistema Elctrico Nacional: Documento expedido por la
Secretara de Energa que contiene la planeacin del Sistema Elctrico Nacional, y que
rene los elementos relevantes de los programas indicativos para la instalacin y retiro
de Centrales Elctricas, as como los programas de ampliacin y modernizacin de la Red
Nacional de Transmisin y de las Redes Generales de Distribucin; (art. 3 LIE)
El PRODESEN es un instrumento para la toma de decisiones para el nuevo Mercado
Elctrico: Panorama actual del Sistema Elctrico Nacional Tendencia de la demanda y
consumo de electricidad Ubicacin y tecnologas de nuevas centrales elctricas
Nuevos elementos de la red nacional Inversiones en generacin, transmisin y
distribuci
Programa Indicativo para la Instalacin y Retiro de Centrales Elctricas (PIIRCE) Scope

To identify the best rea of the country we use diferent studies UNAM
El estudio de tipo cuantitativo se desarrollara en tres etapas o fases de la investigacin:
Etapa no. 1: Investigar la demanda elctrica y su posible tendencia. Etapa no. 2:
Investigar la generacin de energa elctrica, el aporte de los campos geotrmicos y su
posible tendencia. Etapa no. 3: Integracin de los resultados, anlisis y discusin para
establecer el aporte probable de los campos geotrmicos a la generacin de energa
elctrica.

The first option for the gothermal village was comundu in which is minacity For purpuse
of this document it was not posible to develop correctly the concept of a geothermal
village in which the main objective was to help the quality of living of the people, due to
the lack of studies of the geothermal manifestacions of the area. So

15| Page

2 Literature Review
In this section La energa geotrmica es el contenido calrico al interior de la Tierra que
puede ser aprovechado con fines antrpicos (Antics and Sanner, 2007). Los reservorios
geotrmicos tienen un origen geolgico, presentando su mayor potencial en las zonas
que estn asociadas a volcanes o cordones volcnicos (Sanyal et al, 2002). Este potencial
est relacionado con el gradiente trmico promedio de la tierra, el cual aumenta entre 25
a 30 [C] por kilmetro de profundidad. Sin embargo, en zonas volcnicas este gradiente
puede llegar a ser significativamente mayor (Lahsen, 2008). Por otra parte, los fluidos
geotrmicos pueden ser clasificados segn la magnitud de su entalpa, la cual consiste en
la cantidad de energa trmica que este fluido puede intercambiar con su entorno (Llopis
y Angulo, 2008). Esta entalpa puede ser clasificada en alta, media, y baja segn la
temperatura a la cual se encuentre el fluido geotrmico, dado que ambas variables estn
relacionadas de forma proporcional. Segn Muffler and Cataldi (1978), si el fluido
geotrmico se encuentra a temperaturas menores de 100 [C] es clasificada como baja
entalpa; cuando est entre 100 [C] y 150 [C] se clasifica como media entalpa; por
ltimo, en caso ser mayor a 150 [C] es clasificada como alta entalpa. Dentro de los
posibles usos de estas tres clasificaciones se pueden considerar, aplicaciones directas de
calor en el caso de la baja entalpa, aplicaciones directa o indirecta con fines domsticos
e industriales en el caso de la media entalpa y slo para la generacin elctrica en el
caso de la alta entalpa (Ramos, 2011).
Basic Concepts of Geothermal Energy
The word geothermal came from the Latin, geo meaning earth, and thermal, meaning
heat. The earths structure can be described as series of concentric spherical shells, each
one of it having a specific temperature and density. Table.1 describes the main
characteristics of each of the layers of the earth, the distance that each layer has to the
surface (the thickness), their temperature and density.
Table.1.-Data of the Earth(After (DiPippo, 2012))
Region

Distance from
Surface/Thickne
ss (Km)

Temperatu
re
(C)

Surface

10

35

1,100
3,700 to
4,500
4,300 to
6,000
4,500 to
6,600

Crust
Lower Mantle
Outer Liquid (iron)
core
Inner Solid (iron)
core

2,900
5,100
6,350

Density
(g/cm3)
2.7 Continental
3.0 Oceanic
3.3
5.7 to 10.2
11.5
11.5

The knowledge of the real depth of the earth is base on indirect evidence since the
16| P a g e

modern technology is able only to drill a few kilometres, Exxon Neftegas Ltd (ENL) has
completed drilling the worlds deepest well in the Chayvo oil field on the Sakhalin shelf in
the Russian Far East. The shaft of well Z-44 is 12,376 meters deep and in Oberpfalz,
Germany is 9.101 km. (Gupta and Roy, 2007)
The origin of the earths heat arises from two main factors. The first one was the remnant
heat from the formation of the Earths core around 4.5 billions of years ago, and second
the continuous decomposition of the radioactive isotopes, like uranium (U-235,u-238),
thorium (Th-232) and potassium (K-40). This earths thermal energy is unlimited, but the
man can utilise only a few fractions. It needs specific geological characteristics in which
allow to transfer the heat of the deep hot areas to or close to the surface, this transfer is
thus water in the liquid phase or steam.(H.Dickson and Fanelli, 1995).
The temperature increase with the depth of the earth and this is called geothermal
gradient. In average the base of the crust is 1,100 C, and the surface is 10 C. The
differences of temperatures between base of the crust, and the surface produce the heat
flowing out of the earth. This gradient will change on every point, but the normal
conductive temperature gradient is 2- 3.1 C per 100 m (0.02 to 0.035 K/m) (Banks
2008 ) and the rate this heat flows per unit of area is called the normal heat flux, which is
1.2 x 10 -6 cal/m2 .(DiPippo, 2012).
Distribution of Geothermal Resources
The layers of the earth generate specific areas, such as the lithosphere is made of the
crust and the upper layer of the mantle and is located in the outer shell of the earth. This
area is known as tectonic plates and behaves as a network of the different rigid segment
that moves separately from those surrounding it. The area known as asthenosphere is
below of the lithosphere, 200-300 km in thickness, and it has a more plastic behaviour.
(H.Dickson and Fanelli, 1995).
The theory of tectonic plates establishes that lithosphere moves as a result of the heat
drove convection cells in the mantle. It has distinct movements between the compression
and tension, depending on the movement it will generate a different effect over the plate,
that would be folding, thrusting, trenching, thickening, rifting or down-dropping. Hot
mantle material travels upward the earths surface and cooler material returning
downward deeper into the mantle again.
The interactions of plates and the heat of the mantle create new boundary types that
generate features on the structure of the surfaces; this phenomenon creates speeding
ridges, transforms faults and subduction zones. In the Fig. 1 illustrate the six main plates
or lithosphere area which divide our plates, these plates are Pacific Ring Fire, Cocos,
Nazca plates, Philippine plate and mid-Atlantic ridge. Most Tectonic and volcanic activity
occur along the boundaries of the tectonic plates, where the plates collide.

17| Page

Fig. 1. Major Tectonic Plates and the direction of movement (Petersen et al., 2016)
Types of geothermal systems and Resources
The geothermal regions located around the plate margins, it is energy that could be
extracted economically and legally shortly, which means in less than one hundred years,
and the resources that can extract at present are known as reserve.(H.Dickson and
Fanelli, 1995).The earths heat is estimated to be 1.3 X 10 31 J, but only a few part of this
is possible to extract and used for electric power or direct uses like agriculture, heating or
recreation.
The areas that have potential access for economic extraction need to have the following
characteristics, a large source of heat, an area to build up this heat, a barrier to hold the
accumulated heat, a supply of water and a reliable recharge mechanism. These
characteristics can change according to the type of reservoir and the area in which is
located. The geothermal reservoir can be classified according to some specific features,
which are described below.(Gupta and Roy, 2007)
Vapor-dominated system Geothermal Fields: This reservoir is the more common areas
that are exploited because it contains water under high pressure, so at the moment of
the extraction, this pressure is released, and the liquid expands to steam. These fields
excess 100C. Cerro Prieto in Mexico is one example of this type of reservoir. The steam
can be associated with the liquid from the reservoir, these fields are known as wet steam
fields, and the dry fields are the ones that produce superheated steam with no associated
fluid this type is rarer.
Hot Water Geothermal Systems: The pressure on these fields is continuous, so the water
does not change from fluid phase, the heat is transfer by the water in this fields. In
Average, these areas have a temperature of 60 to 100C with an average of deep of 1.5
to 3 km. This kind of system can be found without a cap rock.
Geopressured Geothermal Resources: The quick filling of sediments in a basin, creates a
higher pressure compare with the vapor-dominated fields, the hot water of this systems
are completely closed from an exchange with surrounding resulting in a temperature
18| P a g e

averaged of 150-180 C, at a depth of 6 and 8 km.

Hot, dry Rocks Geothermal System: The heat is trapped in the rocks without any fluid to
transport it. According to the U.S.A Energy research, the Heat stored in rocks within
10km of the earth surface the energy cannot be economically produced by nature hot
water or steam. They can be exploited through hydraulic fracturing.
These fields can be can have one or more characterised igneous sources like manga or
areas near these zones, upper mantle related and local, which are the heat stored in a
field because of the high concentration of radioactivity minerals.
Magma: Are the high-temperature geothermal resources. In the volcanic, the Magna is
located at 5Km under the surface. The necessarily technology to extract the heat from
the magma have not been developing; there are many problems with this technology.
Geothermal Power Plant Technologies
Geothermal power plants work similarly to traditional thermal using a turbine and a
generator in an energy process. The differ- hence is the source of heat: in geothermal
power plants, geothermal fluids provide the heat from the hydrothermal system.

Flash Steam Plant Geothermal

fluids lose pressure as they rise to
the surface and flash to becomes a
two-phase fluid, a then the stem is
separated from the brine and
expanded in the turbines. It can be
single or double flash power plants.
The Flash stem plants are better for a mix
of hot water and steam to allow an
easier conversion from water to
steam, is ideal for high- temperature
reservoirs (>182C).

Fig. 2. Flash Steam Plant (After J.

Pater Salmon, 2011)

Dry Steam Plant: the dry steam is

produced from the reservoir and
piped from wells to the plant to
directly turn turbines, it can be used
when the reservoir produces only
high- temperature steam.

Fig. 3.Dry Steam Plant. After J. Pater

Salmon, 2011)
19| Page

Binary- Cycle Plant the

geothermal fluids passes through a
heat exchanger to boil organic fluids
which have a lower boiling point than
the water. Vapour turns turbines, is
condensed, re-pressurized, and
returned to the heat exchanger to be
used again in a closed-loop. The best
is to use it for lower- temperature
reservoirs >182C

Fig. 4. Binary-Cycle Power Plant.

After J. Pater Salmon, 2011)

Types of geothermal power plant

In a geothermal field destined to generation electricity, it may have wells distributed
across all the area, with a significant distance between them. It can install wellhead
power plants next to each well or a single central/ traditional power plant, which use the
geothermal fluid of several wells collected through a steam gathering system. The
wellhead power plants can be built and brought online as soon as each well is drilled and
tested instead of having to wait for all the wells in the steam field to be drilled and tested,
which takes three years for a traditional power plant.(Gudjosdottir and Jensson, 2015)
In section 4.1, it will be a case study of the careful comparison between the well- head
and central power plants, in which is evaluated the advantage and disadvantage of each
of te following power plants

20| P a g e

Fig. 5. Schematic layout of a well-head and central power plants. (After (Gudjosdottir and
Jensson, 2015))
Cascade uses
Geothermal energy is one of the non-fossil energy sources that commonly are classified
based on the enthalpy of the geothermal fluid that acts as the carrier transporting heat,
the resources are divided into low, medium and high enthalpy. The temperature and the
enthalpy of the geothermal resources are proportional (H.Dickson and Fanelli, 1995),
which they have a broad spectrum of temperature, for low temperature to high
temperature.
From 20 C to 100 C are low enthalpy (H.Dickson and Fanelli, 1995) and are assigned to
the application of direct use like agriculture, aquaculture, swimming, bathing, space
heating, industrial processes. For high enthalpy (T >150C) it dedicated to electric
generation or air conditioner, by ORC (Organic Ranking Cycle) or KC (Kalina Cycle )
technologies can be used to generate electricity from medium enthalpy (100150C).Their complete application is represented in the Lindal diagram in Appendix 5, in
which describe it the range of temperatures and the possible applications.
With the same reservoir, it is possible to use it, for multiple applications according to the
temperature, to increase the energy performance and improve the economic profits.
Along the years, the geothermal energy sources have been utilised mainly for electricity
generation, by high enthalpy geothermal resources. However, the low and medium
enthalpy can be used with a binary cycle in which the heat of the fluid from the reservoir
is used to heat a secondary fluid with a lower boiling point than water, the steam of the
secondary fluid is used to generate electricity. These cycles can be joined with a
21| Page

combined heat and power plant and recover the waste heat and use it for direct
applications.
1.1

Direct Uses

The direct application of a geothermal reservoir refers to the utilisation of the heat energy
(low and medium enthalpy) without the conversion to other forms of energy. (Gupta and
Roy, 2007). These direct applications are more efficient to compare with the generation of
electric power from Geothermal resources because the losses are not imposed by the
laws of thermodynamics. However, it necessary to take into account the losses that are
generated by the transportation of the heat, the main losses are by inadequate
insulation, low flow rates, and terminal temperature differences in heat exchanges and
drains.
The direct application can be classified on three, sectors, residential or commercial,
agricultural and industrial. Their complete applications are represented in the Lindal
diagram in Appendix 3, in which it describe it the range of temperatures and the possible
applications. In the diagram is established only a precise temperature to each of the
applications, but in practice, they can have a range of temperatures not only one.
Freshwater by distillation, multiple effect evaporation and concentration, Drying and
curing light aggregate cement slabs, Drying of organic materials, seaweed, grass,
vegetables
1) Agricultural
a) Animal husbandry, greenhouse space and hotbed heating
b) Mushroom growing
c) Drying of fish stock
d) Fermentation and waste disposal
e) Refrigeration by low temperature
2) Residential and commercial
a) Recreation Application medical baths, Swimming pools
b) Warm water for year-round mining in cold climates
c) Drying of organic materials, seaweed, grass, vegetables
d) Refrigeration
e) Waste disposal and bio-conversion
3) Industrial Aquaculture
a) Freshwater by distillation, multiple effect evaporation and concentration
b) Pulp, paper and wood washing and drying
c) Drying and curing light aggregate cement slabs
d) Production of diatomaceous earth, which is used insect deterrents.

22| P a g e

3 Analysis of Mexico
1.2

Introduction

This section presents an evaluation of the Mexican energy environment from a

geothermal perspective. First is a general description of the economy, population and
energy sector of the country, which will include the electrical generation, consumption
and areas of the SEN. Following from the main elements of the energy reform, where is
described all the modification, key energy institutions and the new electric market
structure.
The next section is a description of the new regulatory geothermal framework, in which is
analysed what is needed to start a real geothermal project. The next section is expressly
about the geothermic energy, analysing the electric generation and direct use from the
geothermal sources and the last section is about the potential of geothermic energy, with
the principal areas of the country.
Mexico is the second largest economy in Latin America and is continue to expand at a
slight annual rate of growth of 2.5 % during 2015.(Bank, 2015). In the same year was
registered a population of 127 million with a slight annual growth rate of 1.4 percent from
the last decade.
Mexico had 68 GW of effective electrical capacity in 2015, with a growth rate of 4% over
the previous year. The national electric generation was approximate of 309,553 GWh a
2.7% growth from 2014. (SENER, 2015d). The generation came mainly from different
sources of fossil fuel; like natural gas, coal and oil, which contributed with more than 80%
and the rest is from clean sources.
On the other hand, the geothermal sources produce 6,331GWh/year, which only
represent 2% of the national generation Fig. 6, this electricity is generated in thirty-seven
power plants units (Flores-Armenta, 2014), between 1.5 and 110 MW, that are over the
five geothermal exploited fields operated by CFE (SENER, 2016a). The National Energy
Strategy, published by SENER, establish the mission to promote the diversification of the
energy matrix, through the increment of the participation of renewable energy by 2024,
so it was set the goal to generate 35% of electricity from non-fossil sources.(SENER,
2015d)

23| Page

Fig. 6. Electrical Generation by fuel in 2015(After (SENER, 2015d)).

In 2015 the electric demand of the SEN was 288,232 GWh, 2.9 % higher than the
previous year, 54% of the annual demand was between the months of April and
September, mind while in the months of winter was the 46% left. The SENER, published in
the National Energy Strategy for 2015-2029, that the average rate of population growth
in North America (U.S.A, Mexico and Canada) during 2004-2014 was 1.04%. Specifically in
Mexico has the highest value with 1.4%.
In the national energy strategy, the government establish the need of 59 GW of extra
capacity to satisfy the demand growth in the SEN for 2015-2029 plan. So is assumed that
the demand will pass from 280.1 TWh to 471.5 TWh in the period of the plan of the next
15 year. (SENER, 2015d) To obtain the extra capacity the country will require 56.9% of
new projects, and the 54.3% of them will be a new project of renewable energy, a great
opportunity for new players in the energy sector(SENER, 2015d)
The electric market in Mexico have seven interconnected areas that are known as the
Nacional Interconnected System (SIN in Spanish), two more areas are isolated. One is
Baja California and the other is Baja California Sur, which includes Muleg, all together
form the National Electric System (SEN in Spanish). In total are ten areas in Mexico as
This section presents an evaluation of the Mexican energy environment from a
geothermal perspective. First is a general description of the economy, population and
energy sector of the country, which will include the electrical generation, consumption
and areas of the SEN. Following from the main elements of the energy reform, where is
described all the modification, key energy institutions and the new electric market
structure. (SENER, 2015b), The areas of the SIN, are interconnected between them to
exchange electricity, satisfy the demand of the country and to guaranty the correct
balance in the system, in Appendix 3 is the transmission lines of the SEN in 2015.

24| P a g e

Fig. 7. Areas of the National Electric System (Adapted from (SENER, 2015b))
Mexican Energy Reform
Mexico now is in a phase of transformation thru the changes to the constitutional
framework in 2013 and the enabling legislation of Energy reform that was authorised in
December 2013, which establish new industry structures in natural gas, oil, and
electricity. As well it opens the countrys energy sector for private companies, including
the field of electricity generation (Price Waterhouse Coopers Mexico, 2014, p. 5).
The transformation brings a new package of laws into the legal framework, which
includes nine new laws as well as amendments to existing laws. The more important are
the new Hydrocarbons Law, Hydrocarbons Revenue Law and Electric Industry Law.
This energy reform represents a thorough break with the political and legal traditions of
the 20th century in Mexico; the transformation was a respond to the urgent need to
increase the rate of economic growth and improve productivity. The transition to the new
laws are expected to go smoothly but is well know from similar experiences in other
countries that will be adjustments during the implementation and unavoidably
refinements to the legislation will have to take place.
According to the new LIE, electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply
activities will have legal separation, with upstream oversight by the SENER and
downstream managed by the regulator CRE.(Israel AlpizarCastroa, 2016)
After the energy reform, there had been different changes about the institutions that are
in charge of the develop of this sector, in Table 2Table 2. Key institutions of the energy
sector. is a brief description of the new main key intuitions and their principal obligations.

25| Page

Table 2. Key institutions of the energy sector.

Key Institution

Main Obligations
Energy Policy
Planning and control of the National Electric System.
Establishment of criteria and requirements of Clean
Energy Certificates.
Evaluation of Social Impact from the applicants.

Coordinated Regulatory Entity

Verification of compliance of Clean Energy Certificates.
Permits for the generation of electricity and model
interconnection contracts.
Regulating general service conditions and tariffs for
transmission and distribution services provided by CFE
National Electricity System operating control
Manage the power grid and the wholesale electric
market.
Evaluation of Electrical project feasibility and Electrical
installation study from the applicants.
State-owned electric utility of Mexico
Transformed into a Productive State Owned Enterprises.
Can make partner
National Commission of Water
Concessions for the use of geothermal water.

One of the objectives of the energy reform is to offer greater electricity supply at a lower
cost, and this will be thru the activity of power generation and wholesale electricity
market that will take place under a regime of free enterprise and open competition.In the
previous Law of Public Services of Electric Energy, it allowed the construction and
operation of power plants from private investors (PPE), but this figure in the framework
had the obligation to sell all the energy to CFE through Log- terms Contracts. This not
allowed the private generator establish any relation or arrangements with the private
consumer.
Furthermore in Fig. 8. New Electric Market Structure (After(SENER, 2016b))Fig. 8 is a
diagram of the new system control and power market after the energy reform. The
wholesale electricity market is a spot market where generators, suppliers and qualified
customers are gathered for selling and buying electricity at real time system marginal
costs and the private sector will be able to compete with CFE for electricity generation.
The generation companies can sell their electricity by
26| P a g e

a) Wholesale electric market or

b) Entering into Long Terms Contracts power purchase agreement (PPA) with a power
marketing company, with qualified customers or with other generators,which will
last 15 years.
The CENACE will dispatch the system's power plants based on a merit order of ascending
operating costs, under which the lowest operating cost power plant satisfies system
energy demand before the next lowest operating cost plant is dispatched. Also, it can
sign a contract with private parties to provide auxiliary services for spot market
operations, to generate the operational stock reserve. (SENER, 2014)

Fig. 8. New Electric Market Structure (After(SENER, 2016b))

It will be a market for tradable clean energy certificates (CEC), which aims to support the
achievement of the national clean energy generation goal of 35% by 2024. CEC will have
a duration of 20 years and will start operation in 2018, in the following Table 3 are the
main characteristics of this new certificates. SENER issued the amount of clean energy
generation that major power consumers will be required to buy starting in 2018, which
will be five percent representing a power generation as a portion of total power
consumed either through
i.
ii.

Contracts with clean power suppliers, or

Purchase CEC
Table 3. Main characteristics of the clean energy certificate scheme (Adapted from
(IRENA, 2015)

Element
Obliged parties

Description
Suppliers
27| Page

Qualified users participating in the power

market
End-users who obtain electricity from an
isolated supply
Holders of Interconnection Agreement
Legacies which include a load centre
All the clean energy sources as defined by the LIE:
Clean generators shall be entitled to receive a
CEC for each unit of power they generate
without the use of fossil fuels.
Eligible
For efficient cogeneration generators, they
Technologies
will receive a given number of CECs according
to the methodology defined by CRE for clean
energy accountability for this type of
technology.
A CEC has permanent validity until it is cancelled to
comply with a quota obligation.
Some economic penalty is considered to be in place
to enforce compliance. Nevertheless, penalties for
Enforcement
non-compliance were still to be determined by the
CRE at the time of writing.
1.3 New geothermal framework in Mexico
There are many opportunities to invest in the renewable-energy sector in Mexico, but one
of the most attractive is the geothermic energy, due to the new possibilities created by
the energy reform.The Energy reform brings a new scenario to the develop of geothermic
energy in Mexico, by the creation of the Law of Geothermal Energy (LEG in Spanish), and
the modification of two articles of the National Water Act (LAN in Spanis).
There is only two private project in geothermal power generation that already have the
concession. One is Grupo Dragn, which has already start operations, and the other is
Mexxus-RG, which is formed by Mexxus Drilling, a Mexican-based drilling company and
Reykjavik Geothermal, an Icelandic based geothermal power Development Company,
they won the first exploration permit in Nayarit (CRE, 2013).
The primary purpose of the LEG is to develop this resource by the regulation of
geothermal exploration, drilling of geothermal wells and the use of geothermal resources
to generate power. Previous to the new law, there was much legal uncertainty, it was not
clear which were the responsible authorities for the permits. The geothermic law includes
the three most important activities for the develop of any geothermic project, which are
the reconnaissance, exploration and production.
The possible applicants for developing any project may be individuals, private companies,
CFE or another productive state company, which must register first with the SENER to
start any activity. For this registration is required the submission of evidence of
applicants legal, technical and financial capacity. Once the SENER authorise the
registration, they can start the stage of reconnaissance in which the candidates performs
28| P a g e

a scouting of the potential drilling area. There is a limit of eight months to do the
reconnaissance of the field before the need to update the registration.
For the exploration permit, the applicant needs to apply in the SENER two months before
the registration expires. The applicants need to submit the same information as in the
stage of registration plus a technical exploration plan with scheduled milestones and a
detail financial plan of the proposed investment at each stage of the project. The
exploration permit can be issued for areas of up to 150 Km 2 and may be valid for three
years, but it can be renewed for other three years after the initial year.
In this stage is include test drilling and any other work above or below ground to confirm
the existence of a geothermal resource and identify the limits of the geothermal area.
The applicants should provide information on the type of fluid, temperature and chemical
composition to the SENER, which they will keep confidence this information until the long
of the permit.
Finally, the production stage refers to the activities after the production wells start
producing steam or fluid, that then will be used to generate electricity or in other
applications. In this stage, the applicant needs a production concession from the SENER,
which includes the concession of the geothermic resources, which is valid for 30 years
and may be extended to other 30 years. Base on the art. 24 the applicant need to ask for
the concession between six months before or after the exploration permit finished, this is
something the SENER need to define correctly, there is still some ambiguity in this article.
To obtain a production concession, the applicant must also have a generation power
permit from the CRE, get confirmation of interconnection feasibility from the independent
system operator CENACE and the corresponding environmental requirements and pay
any applicable fees.
For the holders of exploration permits and production, concessions are required to
provide financial guarantees. Mexican financial institutions must issue all guarantees and
bonds and be payable to the order of the Mexican federal treasury.

Permit holders must deliver and maintain for the term of the licence a
performance guarantee for 1% of the financial plan proposed in the exploration
schedule.
Concession holders must deliver and maintain until the commercial operation has
been achieved, a performance guarantee for 0.5% of the aggregate required
investment.

Ones the applicant have the concession it has a period of maximum three years to obtain
the environmental and use of water authorizations. The issues related to the water are in
charge of the CNA.
All the water extracted during exploration must be re-injected into the ground to maintain
the renewable nature of the resource base on Art 36 of the LEG. The applicants that what
to make use of geothermic water of the reservoir, which has a temperature above 80C
need an additional concession from the CAN base on the terms of the Art.81 and 51 of
29| Page

the National Waters Law.

The regulations distinguish between production concessions for geothermal reservoirs
and concessions for output and use of the subsurface waters in such reservoirs. Given
that each concession serves a different purpose, different rules, terms, conditions and
processes apply to each. Concessions for geothermal waters are regulated by the
National Waters Law, rather than the new geothermal law, and must be obtained from the
CNA.
To make more efficiently the Mexican government create a unique area to procedure all
the permits, concession or another type of legal requirements related to renewable
energies, to reduce the time of process.
As the part of the new transformation the Inter-American Development Back (IDB), the
Mexican Government, NAFIN (a national development bank), the Clean Technology
Fund and Munich Re partnered to develop Geothermal Financing and risk transfer
program. A comprehensive financial and regulatory framework for private investment in
Geothermal projects in Mexico. This action was generated to reduce the natural barriers
that have any geothermal development.
The main objectives of this program are to scale up private investment in geothermal
power generation projects by making available financial mechanisms personalised to
meet the needs of the project at each stage of development, and targeted at reducing
value at risk for developers, removing the main barrier to investment. The more detail
description of this financial mechanism is in
The findings from the research illustrate what are the corresponded procedures to start
the project of electricity generation and direct use of geothermal energy in small scale in
Mexico, in line with the new legal framework of the energy sector.
Geothermal in Mexico
From the previous literature review is know that the interactions of plates and the heat of
the mantle create boundary types that generate features on the structure of the surfaces;
this phenomenon creates speeding ridges, transforms faults and subduction zones, and
Mexico is located one subduction zones. This subduction zone is where the ocean floor of
the Cocos tectonic plate is forcing its way down below the continental edge of the North
American plate. In the south of Mexico is a Caribbean plate. Mexico is mainly located on
the North America plate, but there are other plates, like Pacific, Rivera and Orozco plate
which have influence over the country, as it can show in Fig. 9.
Hot spots and the volcanic ring are manifestations of the subduction zones movements,
therefore high geothermal sources in the country. Baja California Peninsula is on the
Pacific plate, which is moving north-west and below the North American plate. The joint of
these plates below the Gulf of California causes parallel faults which are part of the San
Andreas fault system.

30| P a g e

Fig. 9. Mexico's position in relation to tectonic plates (After (Geo-Mexico, 2012))

Due to the geodynamic characteristics mentioned before, the government realise that
there was needed to establish a specific legal framework to regulate and promote the
exceptional amount of geothermal sources in Mexico. Therefore there is a before and
after the LEG regarding the evolution of geothermal projects in the Fig. 10 shows that in
2015 there were two exploration concessions and fifteen exploration permits, over ten
different states of Mexico. There is still some fear about this new technology; that is
why there is the initial phase of the curve of knowledge in our country, compare with the
other renewables that have an advantage in that.

Fig. 10 Evolution of Geothermal Projects ((SENER, 2016b)

31| Page

Six hundred thirty-five geothermal wells were drilled in Mexico for geothermal
electric purpose in the period 1963 to 2013 as shown in the primary drilling
activity was concentrated in Cerro Prieto, the oldest and more productive field in
Mexico. It has been drilled more than 60 wells with a total of 177.2 Km the
average depth in Cerro Prieto es 2,954 meters.(Luis C.A. Guitirres- Negrn et al.,
2015)
1.3.1 Electric generation
CFE has been in responsible of geothermal development and operation in the country.
The current installed geothermal electric capacity at December 2015 was 926 MWe that
represents 1.4% of the total installed capacity of the country, and it contributes to 2%
(6,331 GWh) of the total electric generation.(SENER, 2015a).
The resources at this moment are exploited only in five fields in Mexico Fig. 11: Cerro
Prieto (Baja California), Las Tres Virgenes (Baja California Sur), Los Azufres (Michoacn)
and Los Humeros (Puebla), La Primavera- Cerrito Colorado (Jalisco) and in Nayarit. The
state utility CFE owns the first five fields described above, La Primavera-Cerrito Colorado
(Jalisco), is on a stage of evaluation and is planned to star operation with a capacity of 75
MWe (Hiriart y Gutirrez-Negrn, 2003)
The only field in operation at the moment from privates is the one of the Nayarit owned
by Grupo Dragn. The detail of the power plants is (APPENDIX)
After the energy reform geothermal energy has capture private interest, for 2016 the
participation is emerging in the state of Nayarit. One great benefit of the geothermal
energy is the only one of the renewable energies that the CENACE consider for a base
load for the electric system.

Fig. 11. Geothermal fields in Mexico at June 2016(Adapted from (Luis C.A. GuitirresNegrn et al., 2015, p. 4))
The evolution of the geothermal industry in Mexico, including the total capacity of all
32| P a g e

permits issued by the CRE until 2018 it can be seen in Fig. 12, The development has been
quite moderate with 1% of average annual growth rate in the capacity and generation
since 2000 to 2015. The slight growth is due to the monopoly sector it had been before
the energy reform, during 2010 to 2015 no additional geothermal field was incorporated
into production in Mexico.
For the capacity projection was added in the corresponded year all permits issued by the
CRE until 2030 which include projects that are under construction, will be constructed,
new ones and tender projects. Using previous annual reports of the state utility CFE and
data from PROSEN 2016-2030 and a capacity factor of 80% was obtained the projection
generation up to 2030. From 2015 up to 2030 the capacity average growth rate is 6 %,
due to new projects which will be exploring and exploitation new areas. In 2020 is
expected to have 10,327 GWh distributed in 12 geothermic areas including private
companies.

Fig. 12. Evolution of installed capacity and generation in geothermal power plants.
In 20011 was a decrease in the national geothermic installed capacity due to the decree
of production of some wells in Cerro Prieto, the depletion of resources and a log of the
exploration and exploitation of new deposits. As it can see in Fig.13, the generation in
2014 decreased 18.98% in respect to 2007 which was reported the highest generation
with 7,404 GWh.
In 2020 and 2021 are the years in which is planned to add the highest capacity each year
of 225 MW and in 2020 it will be retired unit 5 of Cerro Prieto I.(30 MW ).The description
of the actual and future power plants in Mexico is in Appendix
1.3.2 Direct use
About the direct use of the geothermal sources Mexico remains barely developed, it
presents a low growth compare with other countries like the USA, which have a broad
33| Page

range of application having 17,416 MWt of thermal energy. In 2015 Mexico had only 156
MWt used mainly for recreation purposes like bathing and swimming.

Fig. 14.Direct use of U.S.A and Mexico( Adapted from Lund, 2016 #74)
In Los Azufres one of the geothermal power plants of CFE was developed a different
pilot application like wood-dryer, a fruit and vegetable dehydrator, a greenhouse and a
system for heating of its offices and facilities in the area. As in Los Humeros other pilot
test to growth eatable mushrooms.
Fig. 15 shows that the 156 MWt, which is the total direct use in Mexico, the install
capacity and annual direct energy use are 0.004MWt and 4.397 TJ/year for individual
space heating; 0.004 MWt and 0.028 TJ/year for greenhouse heating; 0.007 MWt and
0.067 TJ/year for agricultural drying; and 155.347 MWt and 4166.512 TJ/year for bathing
and swimming. (John W. Lund, 2016)
The heat pumps are unknown and undeveloped in the country, because of the mild
temperature along the year in almost all the territory. However, thru the last years, the
extreme temperatures are more common in Mexico so that the heat pumps can be a
great solution to this problem.
1.4

Geothermal potential

The CFE reports that will need 45,000 MWe of an additional generation of capacity over
the next 15 years and the INERE has indicated that is estimated a Geothermal Potential of
6 GWe in Mexico.
The Fig. 16 represents the installed capacity and expectation of the government about
geothermal growth. At 2014 there were 813 MW, but the expectation for 2029 is that the
capacity increase to 1,934 MW, having a growth rate of 121%. Due to the previous,
information is clear that there are new opportunities created by the Energy Reform,
demand, and geothermal resources of Mexico

34| P a g e

Fig. 16. Installed capacity and expectation of the geothermal growth (MW),(SENER,
2015c)
The map Fig. 17 shows the temperature of 1,300 hot spots analysed; the lower
temperatures (< 100 C) are in yellow colour and the highest in red (> 250 C). In the
middle of the country, which is an area that has been broadly studied (Geociencias UNAM
2012) is located the trans-Mexican volcanic belt which has the highest geothermal
potential in the country.

Fig. 17. Geothermal Resources in Mexico,(SENER, 2016a)

The national inventory of renewable energy published by SENER in which the evaluate
the proven and probable resources of geothermal energy of the country. The following
table represents the total potential of electric generation from geothermal resources that
35| Page

are divided in proven, probable and possible up to June 2015.

As can be seen from Table 4 the geothermic energy in Mxico is registered to be 6 GWe,
of which they are divided in proven and probable reserves. The proven are the ones that
have a technical as an economic study which support the feasibility of their use,
according to with data the national inventory of renewable energy (SENER, 2016a) 5% of
the total capacity are proven reserves. The probable are the ones that have indirect and
direct studies, using volumetric methods of probabilistic analysis (MONTECARLO), these
reserves represent 95%.
Table 4. Potential geothermal in Mexico (Adapted from (SENER, 2016a))
Reserves

Installed Capacity
(GW)

Potential (GWh/year)

Potential (GWh/year)
with CP:80%

with CP:90%
Proven
0.325
2,355
2,254.2
Probable
5.730
45,207
3,9743.28
Total
6
47,562
41,997
In the national inventory of renewable energy, they are assuming that the potential
power plants will be operating with a capacity factor of 90% over the year. To have a
more realistic idea of the potential is used a capacity factor of 80% to obtain a more
accurate data.

With analysis is relied on the volume method and Montecarlo simulation to estimate
geothermal systems which include 1,637 geothermal manifestations located in 26 of the
32 Mexican States. It also presented the statistic distribution of the estimation of the
most likely temperature of the systems, which could be used in a wide variety of direct
application and power generations.
The most likely areas lie between 2.68 and 46 Km2, and the temperatures are in the
range of 36 to 208. Base on this report the best areas for a potential project for wellhead
geothermal power plants will be Guanajuato, Nayarit and Sonora, which have some
manifestation. (Eduardo R. IGLESIAS, 2015)

4 Case Study of Small Geothermal power plants in the

world
1.5

Introduction

The aim of this section is to learn from the experience of other countries that have made
a contribution to the research of the small-size geothermal power plant to satisfy the
electrical power and thermal demand. Following is a summary of the main projects that
have been implemented in the world and can be adequate to the situation in Mexico.
However is also described some projects and research that have not yet been
implemented, but contain value information.
According to DiPippo the usual amount of net energy produced by a well is 4-10MW and
Huddlestone-Holmes and Hayward confirm the minumimun value by for global experience
36| P a g e

in power generation from convective hydrothermal resources whcihs is 4 MW.

1.6

Geothermal Village in Kenya

The geological resources for sustainable development (GEO 2D) is a French Limited
Company that have been working to develop a concept call geothermal village. Which is
a project that will be drawn up in rural areas of the Kenya, to cover the electrical power,
thermal and water demand of the community that is near the geothermal source. The
other aspect of this concept is the awareness of the creating a real economic and social
impact for the population of the area.
The geothermal village will use a cascade system in which the first level will be the
production of electricity, using shallow geothermal wells and small-size binary plant and
then the production of heat for drying food, there will be different applications for
pumping of groundwater for agricultural purposes. For the application of pumping water,
Mexico has a different regulation to protect the quality and balance of the reserve ,is an
obligation to reinject all the water that came from the production well.
The geothermal fluid thery are going to be produced from shallow wells using equipment
similar to those used for water drilling.
The highlight of this project is the inclusion of the community in the project since the
beginning, they have found from other experiences and other projects that the people
want to be involved in the developing of the projects.
The size of the power plants they are taking into account is
Kenya have been using the wellhead power sytem
http://blogs.iadb.org/cambioclimatico/2014/12/30/geothermal-energy-fuel-prices-timeseize-moment/
SUPPORT THE IDEA OF THIS IS THE BEST MOMENTO OF GEOHTERMAL ENERGY BEACUAS
EOF TH EOIL HAVE DROP THERE PRICES.
1.7

Geothermal Village in XXXX

1.8

Geothermal Village in XXXXX

Small power plants in Mexico

1.9

Introduction

In this section it will be covered the description of the selected area for the develop of
small geothermal power plants and direct use. Describe the adequate direct application
for the geothermal sources in relation with the need of the area and describe the
technology selected for this project which will reduce the payback of the project. It is
worth meantion that the aim of this work is not design of the power plants units, thefore
aspects like the optimization of the working fluid, design of individual components of the
37| Page

P
1.10 Description of the area
Based on the evaluation elaborated about the geothermal prospects in Baja California
peninsula by UNAM and CONACYT with the limited data available on the active
hydrothermal systems of the country. With the information of the study and the datas of
the INEGI about population, demand, and growth, the area of study for this project is the
municipality of Los Cabos, ion the state of Baja California Sur (BCS)
BCS is a state in north-west of Mexico (Fig. 18) and as it was presented in the previous
section Baja California Peninsula is on the Pacific plate, which is moving north-west and
below the North American plate. The joint of these plates below the Gulf of California
causes parallel faults which are part of the San Andreas fault system giving this area
some manifestations of hot springs.
According to the INEGI, BCS represents 3.77% of the total national territory; it has 712,
029 populations which are 0.6% of Mexico, and is the state that have the second highest
with growth rate from 2000 to 2010 of 4%.The population is spread over more than 2,400
settlements of various sizes; only 17 of them are urban that are more than 2,500 or more
inhabitants. Rural population accounts for just over 78,000 people, 14% of the states
total.
Base on section three the region of BCS is not interconnected for the rest of the SIN, , that
is one of the reasons this state have the most expensive electricity of the country due to
the isolations of the system and because of the fuels used to supply the power plants of
the area, in general diesel.

Fig. 18. Municipalities of Baja California Sur.

Los Cabos have hot semi-arid steppe climate, over the course of a year the temperature
varies from 19.4-32 C and is rarely below 12C above 37C (Fig. 19). The warm season
lasts from May to October with an average daily high temperature above 29C. The cold
season lasts from December to March with an average daily high temperature
38| P a g e

below 24C.{CONAGUA, 2015 #99}

Fig. 19. Monthly average low and high Temperature of Los Cabos 2014-2015(Adapted
from {CONAGUA, 2015 #99})
Los Cabos have 238,487 inhabitants in 2015 census (INEGI) and is one of the most
touristic areas of the country.The main economic activity of the municipality is the
tourism and is now expanding rapidly because it has become a favourite tourist
destination for many vacationers looking for sports fishing, whale watching and other
similar activities. In 2014 there were 299 hotels with 15,792 rooms. The percentage of
occupancy of the hotels was 58.6% with an average stay of four days per visitor.
Another economy activity is the agriculture, in which it is also included the greenhouse
and organic farming, in 2014 BCS have 1,400 ha and 1,377 ha respectively. The main
vegetables and fruit they produce is tomato, chilli, asparagus, and strawberries. BCS is
one of the main fish producers of the country and mainly shrimp and lobster.
Having a general image of the municipality of Los Cabos, with the previous description,
BCS is an adequate state to promote the use of the geothermal energy for direct and
indirect use. Due to the growth in the demand for electricity and the need and willing to
replace the actual power plants, which at the moment fifteen out of sixteen are operated
with fossil fuels.
The consumption and demand in BCS will be increisingin the following years acording to
expections of the national strategic planning of the government. In 2015 the consumption
of electricity was 2,546 GWh and for 2030 it is expected to have an annual growth rate of
5.1 % with 5,377 GWh. It is projected to be the region with more growth of the country.
(Fig. 20).(SENER, 2015b) Moreover the demand, will have significant growth compared
with the whole SIN. Is expected that for 2019 BCS have a growth of 6.8% and the SIN only
3.8%.
39| Page

Fig. 20 Historical and expected Electric energy consumption in BCS from 2004 to 2030
(Adapted from {SENER, 2015 #17})
At the end of 2015 there are 16 power plants in operation, four units of internal
combustion which use fuel oil; the others eleven are gas turbine that uses diesel to work
and a solar power plant, having a total of 998 MW in all BCS. To meet the demand in the
state the government asure that is needed to add additional capacity in 2016 and from
2018 to 2022 and finally in 2027 and 2027 and all this extra capacity is planning to be in
general from clean fuels.
So, for 2019 is expected to have installed capacity of 2,015 MW more than the actual
intalled cpapcity.In addition the greenhouse gas emissions from the generation of the
actual power plants, are threatening the health of residents of the entity and the
environment, therefore is planned to remove the diesel and fuel oil power plants that are
running in the state as it can be shown in Fig. 21 with the red colour.

40| P a g e

Fig. 21 Evolution of installed capacity and generation in power plants of BCS

The cost of kWh for the clean power plants will be much lower than the ones that are at
the moment operated with diesel. The price of electricity in the industrial sector is the
highest in the country, 28.5 % higher than the average national. In average the marginal
cost in BCS is $86.09 MXN in contrast with $55 in average with the other areas of the SIN.
Base on the evaluation elaborated about the geothermal prospects in Baja California
peninsula by UNAM and CONACYT,(Prdl-Ledesma and Galvan, 2012; Torres-Verab, 2015)
Los Cabos is an area that present different thermal manifestations and hydrothermal
activity that would be exploited for direct and indirect uses. Na/K geothermometer(Giggenbach,
1988) indicates equilibrium temperatures between168and 245C. The chemical analysis of the thermal
water indicates temperatures between 190C and 200C but the evaluated report does
notmention the volume and specific location of the reservoir because there are not
enough graphic data.
The predominant structures in the region are the NS oriented150-km long San Jos del Cabo Fault and the San Bartolo
fault(Fig. 13). The San Jos del Cabo fault is the eastern limit of the LosCabos Province, and it is characterized by a 1000 m
escarpment that defines the San Jos del Cabo basin (

According to the study it is feasible to explore more this resource to provide energy to the
area, it is mentioned that one advantage of this hot spring is that the water of the
resource is mainly sea water so it will not have the problems go through water.
The study does not mention how deep was taken the samples or at what deep is the
temperature that they are given in the study. is calucated thee in which the splames
where taken, but it will be assumed that are on shallow deeps no more than500m
A falta od this data t was necessary to investigate the tmeperaturwe gradient of the ara
to eperemine the deep of thetemperature is lloking for ,.
41| Page

Fig. 22. Los Cabos. Geological map and hydrothermal manifestations (after BncoraAlsina and Prol-Ledesma, 2008)
The project is to install a small power geothermal power plant which will meet the
electricity and thermal demand of the nearby tourist resorts. Having direct applicationa
that will increise the incsomes of the project .
The main issue is how to minimize the energy loss from the geothermal working fluid so
that the power generated can be increased. In some of geothermal power plant, the
42| P a g e

hot water which is resulted from flashing is flown to injection well, and steam out from
turbine is condensed in condenser, while the temperature and pressure of the working
fluid is still high. The aim of this research is how the waste energy can be re-used as
energy source to generate electric power
1.11 Potential Electricity
It will be needed a permit from the CRE to The permits shall also include the right to
build, own and operate private interconnection lines to deliver power output to the grid.
And also will receive tradable clean energy certificates according to the electricity
generated.
The power plant is a xxxx binary-cycle unit with xxxx net capacity. The turbine employs
xxxxx as working fluid, and reqire a water supply of 55 T/H AT 150 c. The temperatures
are the adecuates between 115-120C, lower temperatures increase the water nee,
demandidn more than one well to supplu the required flow.
The optimum flow rate for a 300 KW binary unit is 150 t/h.
(maGIARIC
Base on prevous experecines found I the literature review the the the power plant should
not be more than 15 tons por module . heavir modules would affect the transportation to
the are .
The heat exchanger should be designed for a maximous lenht of 9 meters

43| Page

44| P a g e

45| Page

http://energy-base.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/REEEP-UNEP-CONUEE-MarketAnalysis-of-Renewable-Energy-and-Energy-Efficiency-in-Hotels-in-Mexico-Spanish.pdf
Base on market study elaborated by Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE) y de
La Comisin Nacional para el Uso Eficiente de la Energa (CONUEE) (antes -CONAE-) it is
assumed that the power plant will be provifdin electric energy to a hotel of 4 starst in los
cabos with 3700 rooms with tipycally consume 20,807,521 KWh/year of Elecricyt so for

1.12 Direct Applications

Geothermal heat only plants can feed a district heating system, as can the hot water
remaining from electricity generation, which can also be used in a cascade of applications
demanding successively lower temperatures. These might start with a district heating
system, followed by greenhouse heating and then perhaps an aquaculture application.
Heating swimming pools, spa, dying food,
http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/Geothermal_roadmap.pdf
. A new business and tourist facility is planned, with outdoor and indoor pools,
greenhouses and fish farms.
Geothermal district cooling is poorly developed but could provide a summer use for
geothermal district heating systems. Geothermal heat above 70C can produce chilled
water in sorption chillers that can be piped to consumers via the same circuit used for
heating. Alternative devices such as fan coils and ceiling coolers can also be used.
Sorption chillers have recently become available that can be driven by temperatures as
low as 60oC, enabling geothermal heat drive compression chilling machines in place of
electricity.
46| P a g e

1.13 Analysis of the CO2 reduction

Application

Origin Fossil Fuel

CO2

Cost

6 Business Strategy
Consecutively to evaluate the economical viability, we used the following economic
indicators: Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and payback. Lastly a
sensitivity analysis was carried out on three socio-ecomic different cases.
1.14 Stakeholder Identification
Inside this project, there are distinct type of stakeholders according to the power and
interest for the project, for purpose of this document was elaborated an analysis to
identify each of the different stakeholders to create a correct management plan of
communication with them. The Fig. 23, contain the key stakeholders of this project, from
Governmental institution to media, all of them important for the correct execution of the
project.

47| Page

Fig. 23 Stakeholder Analysis

1.15 Communication and Control plan
The communication and control plan is necessary to inform, track and control the
development of the project, which takes into account the stakeholders according to the
influence and interests they have in the project. Also there are different communication
outputs for each stakeholder group, according to his characteristics. The more
information the stakeholders have about the project and the progress the more they will
be involved on it.
Table 5. Stack holders Analysis
Name

Influence

SENER/Mexican
Government.

Policy Makers.

Team Project

Work on the project directly

Energy Sustainabity

Links with Funds.

Recommende
d
Communicati
on Event
e-mails
workshops
Social Medias.
e-mails
Meeting
Social Medias.
Gantt chart
e-mails
48| P a g e

Name

Influence

fund
European Comission.

Primary found.

Alliance
New Ventures.

Link with other companies or

funds that can contribute in
the project.
Knowledge and exigencies in
the geothermal sector.

Institutions
CEMIE-Geo
Mexicana
Geothermic
Association.
Community.

Recommende
d
Communicati
on Event
workshops
Social Medias
e-mails
Monthly status
reports
Social Medias.
Social Medias.

Journal Articles
Conferences
Workshops
Social Medias.

Possible opposition for the

Social Media.
development of the project.
Mass Media :
The link with the public,
Telephone
government, funds and other Press Releases

Blogs.
Journals/Newspaper companies.
s
Social Media/blogs
TV/radio.
The effective communication plan will be executed in three direction: top down, bottomup and middle out. The project reporting will be a regular, strategic and easy method to
work on it to, be prepare for any unexcited surprise, and kept the stakeholders informed
of the critical aspects of the project.
The communication outputs will be a key factor for success of this project, to achieve the
project objectives and to reduce the risks. The following is some examples of the
communication events in this project.

1. Using monthly the Gantt chart will be useful for each manager of the work
packages to record the general progress, to see if it working correctly.
2. Monthly status reports: The project management will make his report for the key
stakeholders of the project to inform them about the task completed in the
previous month, the tasks that are planned for the next month and the issues and
solutions.
3. Monthly meeting with Green Electricity to see the progress through the project
and solve any contingency.
4. Monthly Team Meeting Internal weekly meeting with the key members for he
project.
5. Conferences: the project management will organize a bio-year conference to
49| Page

inform the general stakeholders about the progress of the project.

6. Website use/social Media the communication management will elaborate this
website so, the different stakeholders can be informed about the general
information of the project.
The project management will elaborate different documents for the areas within the
project to have a global control of the different aspects, for example(Burke, 2007, p. 224):
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.

Purchase order
Configuration control
Progress report
Revised Gantt chart
Revised Budget
Minutes of meetings
Responsibility matrix

50| P a g e

7 Conclusions
The continued challenges of water have pushed some Mexican geothermal experts to call
for developing technology that will eliminate the need for water. This new approach,
known as enhanced geothermal systems, give generators much more flexibility on where
plants could be placed and would double the potential geothermal resources in Mexico,
according to Luis Gutierrez-Negrin, president of the Mexican Geothermal Association.
We have to learn from them how to make a cheaper well, how to clean the steam so that
the maintenance does not cost so much, how to increase the reliability of a plant and how
to increase the productivity of a well.
Such limitations have led Bloomberg New Energy Finance to estimate that Mexico's
geothermal's share of the electricity market will grow from its current 1.3 percent share to
only about 2.3 percent by 2040, according to Lilian Alves, an analyst with Bloomberg New
Energy Finance.
The reason why [expected] participation is limited is because geothermal is a technology
that does not have an experience curve, Alves said. We are expecting further price
drops for wind and solar, which will continue to make them much more competitive
against sources like geothermal.

Whole sale market

The power plant , can play diferent rols inside the new nergy market , one can be
disconnected of the grid , so it swill olny provide electricity to certain companies or to
the houses that are near the geothermal resources . and the other option is to be
contected to the grid , so this means it trasnfform in a generator which can participara in
the wholesale market ,
It can salir there cec to other companies and in that way recibe additional income .

Future investigacion
Design of the heat exchangers
And the thernmo danalis
The selection of the working fluid is based on thermodynamic considerations; i.e. on the thermophysical properties of the geothermal and working fluids, as well as the heat recovery cycle chosen.
The working fluids include hydrocarbons (mainly butane and pentane) and synthetic refrigerants
(mainly HFCs). Multicomponent working media, where evaporation and condensation occur at variable
temperatures, as for example in the Kalina cycle, could increase the thermodynamic efficiency and
should be considered (Angelino and Colonna Di Paliano, 1998).
As noted above, the design of a geothermal binary plant needs to take into account the particular type
51| Page

of thermodynamic cycle, the pump and turbine, the recovery heat exchanger and condenser, and the
cooling system. For this reason, the process has to consider a large number of design variables and
operating parameters

52| P a g e

References
Bank, T.W. (2015) Overview Mxico Available at:
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mexico/overview (Accessed: June).
Burke, R. (2007) Project Management Techniques.
CRE (2013) ttulo de permiso de pequea produccin de energa elctrica. Mexico DF
DiPippo, R. (2012) Geothermal Power Plant Hardbound: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Eduardo R. IGLESIAS (2015) 'Summary of the 2014 Assessment of Medium- to LowTemperature Mexican Geothermal Resources', Proceedings World Geothermal Congress
2015. Melbourne, Australia,, 19-25 April 2015. p. 7.
Flores-Armenta, M. (2014) Short Course VI on Utilization of Low- and Medium-Enthalpy
Geothermal Resources and Financial Aspects of Utilization. El Salvador. UNU-GTP and
LaGeo.
Geo-Mexico (2012) 'Which tectonic plates affect Mexico?', Geo-Mexico, the geography
and dynamics of modern Mexico Available at: http://geo-mexico.com/?page_id=2.
Geociencias UNAM (2012) Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt -Review. Available at:
http://www.geociencias.unam.mx/geodinamica/research/research/mexico/tmvb/tmvb2.ph
p#manea (Accessed: 8th Febrary ).
Gudjosdottir, C.A.C.G.M.S. and Jensson, P. (2015) 'Economic Comparison of Well-head
geothermal power plant and a traditional one', Geothermics, 53(2015), pp. 1-13.
Gupta, H. and Roy, S. (2007) Geothermal Energy: An alternative resources for the 21st
century Amsterdam Elsevier.
H.Dickson, M. and Fanelli, M. (1995) Geothermal Energy. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
IRENA (2015) Renewable Energy Prospects: Mexico, REmap 2030 analysis. Abu Dhabi.
[Online]. Available at:
http://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/IRENA_REmap_Mexico_report_201
5.pdf.
Israel AlpizarCastroa, C.R.M. (2016) 'Review of Mexicos energy reform in 2013:
Background, analysis of the reform and reactions', Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, 58, pp. 725-736.
John W. Lund, T.L.B. (2016) 'Direct utilization of geothermal energy 2015 worldwide
review', Geothermics, 60, pp. 66-93.
Luis C.A. Guitirres- Negrn, Ral Maya Gonzlez and Jos Luis Quijano Len (2015)
'Present Situation and perspective of geothermal in mexico ', Proceeding world
Geothermal Congress 2015. Melbourne , Autralia
Petersen, J.F., Sack, D. and Gabler, R.E. (2016) Fundamentals of Physical Geography , .
Prdl-Ledesma, R.v.-E.R.M. and Galvan, C.A. (2012) Evaluacin de los recursos geotrmicos
de la pennsula de baja california: Continentales, costeros y marinos. Mexico
Price Waterhouse Coopers Mexico (2014) Mexican Energy Reform Implications and
opportunities in the national electricity network. Mexico.
Decreto por el que se crea el Centro Nacional de Control de Energa (DOF: 28/08/2014).
SENER (2015a) 'Estadisticas del Sector Electrico ' Montly Available at:
http://egob2.energia.gob.mx/portal/electricidad.html.
SENER (2015b) Programa de desarrollo del sistema electrico nacional Mexico
SENER (2015c) Prospectiva de energia renovable 2015-2029. Mexico.
SENER (2015d) Prospectiva del Sector Electrico 2015-2029. Mexico
SENER (2016a) 'Inventario Nacional de Energia Renovable '. Online: SENER. Available at:
53| Page

http://inere.energia.gob.mx/publica/version3.2/.
SENER (2016b) Mexicos New Energy Industry: Investing in the Transformation. Mexico
Torres-Verab, C.A.-G.R.M.P.-L.M.A. (2015) 'Geothermal prospects in the Baja California
Peninsula', Geothermics, 55, pp. 39-57.

Appendix
Appendix 1. Geothermal Financing and Risk Transfer Program

Appendix 2. Geothermal Financing and Risk Transfer Program

From a financial point of view, Clean Technology Fund resources in the form of a
concessional loan are blended with IDBs and NAFINs to finance all stages of the projec,
this blend will be know as IDB/NAFIN/CTF. Additionally, a contingent recovery grant and a
contribution from the Mexican Government will support the deployment of risk mitigation
instruments specifically designed to back the financing of the projects, making them
54| P a g e

bankable, maximising leverage and diminish the Value at Risk

a) Loans convertible to grants will be used for projects in exploration and test drilling
phases, when resource risks are highest. For early drilling the funded exploration loans
will be made available through NAFIN .The grant funding will operate as a loan guarantee.
In case of success, the project will become eligible for financing in the next stage. In case
of partial or total exploration failure, the guarantee will be called.
b) Grants to partially cover insured loan premiums will be used in the field
development, production and re-injection drilling phases.the grant funding together with
Government Mexican funds will share with developers the cost of the insurance premium
for a policy to cover IDB/NAFIN/CTF or commercial exploration loans.

55| Page

Appendix 3.Capacity of Transmition in the national electric System

Appendix 4.Utilization of Geothermal Energy for Electric Power Generation as of 31

December 2015 Power Plants in 2015 (Adapted from (SENER, 2015b))

Project

rimavera

o Prieto I U5

o Prieto II Central

o Prieto III Central

o Prieto IV Central

trmica Para El
arrollo
. P. I.

Azufres

Azufres U2

Azufres U6

Azufres U8

Sche
me

Stat
e

CFE

JAL

CFE

BC

CFE

BC

CFE

BC

CFE

BC

Type of
Project

Area of SEN

Transmission
Area

Capaci
ty
(MW)

Year of
instalat
ion

Year
of
Suspe
nd

NP
Operation
Operation
Operation
Operation

08-Baja
California
08-Baja
California
08-Baja
California
08-Baja
California

48-Mexicali

30.0

48-Mexicali

220.0

48-Mexicali

220.0

48-Mexicali

100.0

2020

Operation
Auto
CFE
CFE
CFE
CFE

NAY
MIC
H
MIC
H
MIC
H
MIC
H

Operation
Operation
Operation
Operation

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

52.0

03-Occidental

28-Carapan

210.0

03-Occidental

28-Carapan

5.0

2018

03-Occidental

28-Carapan

5.0

2018

03-Occidental

28-Carapan

5.0

2018

56| P a g e

Inve
n Co
($/kW

Project

Humeros Central
Humeros U3
Humeros U6
Humeros U8
VirGCOs_Central

GCO 01

GCO 02

GCO 03

2/

GCO 04

GCO 05

GCO 06

GCO 07

GCO 08 2/

GCO 09

GCO 11 2/

GCO 12 2/

GCO 10

CFE 02

CFE 03

CFE 04

CFE 05
AUT 01

AUT 03

AUT 04

CFE 06
CFE 07
CFE 08

CFE 09

PP 01

Sche
me

Stat
e

CFE
CFE
CFE
CFE
CFE
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic
Gener
ic

PUE
PUE
PUE
PUE
BCS

CFE
CFE
CFE
CFE
Auto

PUE
BCS
MIC
H
JAL
HGO

Auto

JAL

Auto
CFE
CFE
CFE

JAL
PUE
JAL
JAL

CFE

BC

Type of
Project
Operation
Operation
Operation
Operation
Operation
New

Mex
New
PUE
New
PUE
New
NAY
New
NAY
New
NAY
New
JAL
New
NAY
New
JAL
New
JAL
New
JAL
New
JAL
Constructi
on
Tender

Area of SEN

Transmission
Area

Capaci
ty
(MW)

Year of
instalat
ion

Year
of
Suspe
nd

Inve
n Co
($/kW

02-Oriental
02-Oriental
02-Oriental
02-Oriental
10-Mulege

34-Puebla
34-Puebla
34-Puebla
34-Puebla
53-Mulege

53.6
5.0
5.0
5.0
10.0

01-Central

31-Central

226.0

2020

02-Oriental

34-Puebla

1.0

2020

02-Oriental

34-Puebla

36.0

2021

95

03-Occidental

22-Tepic

191.0

2021

5,0

03-Occidental

22-Tepic

11.0

2022

29

03-Occidental

22-Tepic

27.0

2023

71

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

15.0

2024

39

03-Occidental

22-Tepic

1.0

2024

34

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

1.0

2025

27

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

11.0

2026

30

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

36.0

2027

95

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

44.0

2026

1,1

02-Oriental

34-Puebla

27.0

2016

1,0

10-Mulege

70.0

2017

2,2

200.0

2018

6,8

27.0
25.0

2019
2024

1,0
51

51

2016
2016
2016

5,9

27

Tende

03-Occidental

Tender
New
Constructi
on
Constructi
on
tender
New
New
New

03-Occidental
03-Occidental

53-Mulege
21Aguascalientes
23-Guadalajara
30-Queretaro

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

25.0

2022

03-Occidental

23-Guadalajara

25.0

2025

02-Oriental
03-Occidental
03-Occidental
08-Baja
California

34-Puebla
23-Guadalajara
23-Guadalajara

27.0
27.0
27.0

2021
2023
2027

97
71
71

48-Mexicali

27.0

2020

71

Constructi
03-Occidental
22-Tepic
30.0
2022
PP
JAL
on
*Electric areas referring in the This section presents an evaluation of the Mexican energy

57| Page

27

122

Year
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030

SIN
4.0
3.9
3.7
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.6
3.7
3.7

Baja
Californi
a
3.2
2.9
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.7
3.7

Baja
Californi
a Sur
5.4
5.9
5.8
6.8
5.2
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1
5.1

http://www.iadb.org/en/sector/financial-markets/financial-innovationlab/geothermal,19718.html
Project Plan Table of potential in mexico

58| P a g e

08-BAJA CALIFORNIA
TIJUANA (46)

MEXICALI (48)

230

La Herradura

Rumorosa

La Herradura

La Rosita

TIJUANA (46)

ENSENADA (47)

Presidente Jurez

Popotla

115

Presidente Jurez

Puerto Nuevo

115

Presidente Jurez

La Jovita

230

Presidente Jurez

Lomas

230

TIJUANA (46)

E.U.A. - WECC

Tijuana I

Otay

230

La Rosita

Imperial Valley

230

MEXICALI (48)

SAN LUIS RO COLORADO (49)

Mexicali II

Ruz Cortines

161

Cerro Prieto I

Ruz Cortines

161

Cerro Prieto II

Parque Industrial San Luis

230

Cerro Prieto II

Chapultepec

230

510

230
230
230 / 115

230

161 / 230

200

408

315

09-BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR

VILLA CONSTITUCIN (50)

LA PAZ (51)

115

Villa Constitucin

Las Pilas

LA PAZ (51)

LOS CABOS (52)

Olas Altas

El Palmar

230

El Triunfo

Santiago

115

90

115
230 / 115

Total2/

180

71,397

59| Page

Project Plan
Direct uses of Geothermal energy in Mexico
Task

21-Dec
28-Dec
04-Jan
11-Jan
18-Jan
25-Jan
01-Feb
08-Feb
15-Feb
22-Feb
29-Feb
07-Mar
14-Mar
21-Mar
28-Mar
04-Apr
11-Apr
18-Apr
25-Apr
02-May
09-May
16-May
23-May
30-May
06-Jun
13-Jun
20-Jun
27-Jun
04-Jul
11-Jul
18-Jul
25-Jul
01-Aug
08-Aug
15-Aug
22-Aug
29-Aug

Appendix 5. Lindal Diagram spectrum (DiPippo, 2012).

Appendix 6. Project Plan

Chri
stm
as

Easter
Break

60| P a g e

Project Deadline Wensday 31th August

Project Topic
Submission
(submited 21Dec)
Reasearch of
Geothermal
Energy
Collect
Information of
Geothermal
Power Plants
in Mexico
Literal Review
(submited 11
-Apr)
Analysis of
Mexico Energy
Situation
Case Study of
viable
financial
opportunities
of direct use
Geothermal
Village in
Mexico
Bussines Case
for direct use
of geothermal
energy
Cash Flow
Forescast
SWOT
Analysis
Risk
Analysis
Project Writeup

Interim Submission Monday 11th April

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37

Bre
ak

61| Page