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31 October 2007 - Mexico will need 27 000 MW of new capacity in the next decade to meet its electricity needs, according to Francisco Santoyo, chief financial officer of state-run electric utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE).
"In the next 10 years we will need new generation (capacity) of 27 000 MW, which implies an investment of around $50bn," Santoyo said during a business conference Tuesday.
Unlike Mexico's oil industry, which is a monopoly run by national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, limited private sector investment is allowed in electricity generation.
Under former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who held office from 1988 to 1994, laws were changed to allow private concerns to generate electricity for their own use or for sale to the CFE.
At the end of September, the CFE had an installed capacity of 49 861 MW, of which 11 457 MW, or 23 per cent, was from independent producers.
Santoyo said the CFE is committed to investing in renewable energy sources, even though more needs to be done to reduce the cost of capital associated with those projects.
About 22.2 per cent of the CFE's installed capacity is hydroelectric, which is completely owned by the government, while wind power represents less than 1 per cent and geothermal 1.9 per cent.
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