Mexico energy profile
Mexico — geothermal strength, solar growth, a reasserted state role
Top 6
Global rank in geothermal capacity
1,000+ MW
Total installed geothermal capacity
2.3×
Wind + solar growth, 2015–2022 (IEA)
≥54%
Grid electricity now required from state utility CFE
Cerro Prieto and Mexico's geothermal strength
A geothermal power few outside the industry know about
Why Mexico has so much geothermal:
Mexico sits at the convergence of several tectonic plates, giving it significant volcanic activity concentrated in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Baja California peninsula. Exploration began in the late 1950s, and today the country operates five geothermal plants with combined capacity exceeding 1,000 MW, placing it among the world's top six geothermal producers. State utility CFE is the country's dominant geothermal operator. Cerro Prieto, in Baja California, is by far the largest — one of the biggest geothermal complexes anywhere in the world.
Mexico sits at the convergence of several tectonic plates, giving it significant volcanic activity concentrated in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Baja California peninsula. Exploration began in the late 1950s, and today the country operates five geothermal plants with combined capacity exceeding 1,000 MW, placing it among the world's top six geothermal producers. State utility CFE is the country's dominant geothermal operator. Cerro Prieto, in Baja California, is by far the largest — one of the biggest geothermal complexes anywhere in the world.
What's changing:
Mexico enacted a dedicated Geothermal Energy Law in March 2025, establishing a formal regulatory framework for exploration and use of underground thermal energy — both for electricity and for direct uses like water heating and agriculture. The first exploration concession under the new law was granted in September 2025, in Guanajuato. Separately, Pemex — the state oil company — has floated using some of its 15,000+ unused wells and its drilling expertise to explore geothermal potential alongside its hydrocarbon work, part of a broader effort to rebrand toward "Pemex Energia," though the company's financial constraints make the scale of any such shift uncertain.
Mexico enacted a dedicated Geothermal Energy Law in March 2025, establishing a formal regulatory framework for exploration and use of underground thermal energy — both for electricity and for direct uses like water heating and agriculture. The first exploration concession under the new law was granted in September 2025, in Guanajuato. Separately, Pemex — the state oil company — has floated using some of its 15,000+ unused wells and its drilling expertise to explore geothermal potential alongside its hydrocarbon work, part of a broader effort to rebrand toward "Pemex Energia," though the company's financial constraints make the scale of any such shift uncertain.
Solar growth and the 2025 energy reform
Fast-growing renewables, under a reasserted state role
Solar's rapid rise:
Mexico's high solar radiation, particularly in the north, has driven fast growth: installed solar capacity share roughly doubled from 2019 to 2020 alone, and combined wind-plus-solar generation nearly tripled between 2015 and 2022, according to the IEA. Villanueva Solar Park in Coahuila (1,754 MW, developed by Italy's Enel Green Power) is among the largest solar installations in the Americas. Even so, fossil fuels still dominate Mexico's electricity mix — natural gas alone supplies more than half of generation, with renewables of all kinds combined contributing roughly a fifth to a quarter.
Mexico's high solar radiation, particularly in the north, has driven fast growth: installed solar capacity share roughly doubled from 2019 to 2020 alone, and combined wind-plus-solar generation nearly tripled between 2015 and 2022, according to the IEA. Villanueva Solar Park in Coahuila (1,754 MW, developed by Italy's Enel Green Power) is among the largest solar installations in the Americas. Even so, fossil fuels still dominate Mexico's electricity mix — natural gas alone supplies more than half of generation, with renewables of all kinds combined contributing roughly a fifth to a quarter.
The 2025 reform:
Starting with a constitutional reform in October 2024 under President Claudia Sheinbaum and followed by eight secondary laws in March 2025, Mexico substantially reversed the market liberalisation introduced by the 2014 energy reform. The new rules require at least 54% of grid electricity to come from state utility CFE's own plants, capping private producers at 46% — a significant shift back toward state control after a decade in which private wind and solar developers had taken a leading role. The government frames this as reasserting national energy sovereignty and strengthening CFE and Pemex as "the people's companies"; industry groups and some analysts have expressed concern that it could slow private investment in renewables at a time when Mexico is also pursuing ambitious clean-energy targets, including a pledge to add over 30 GW of combined wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro capacity by 2030.
Starting with a constitutional reform in October 2024 under President Claudia Sheinbaum and followed by eight secondary laws in March 2025, Mexico substantially reversed the market liberalisation introduced by the 2014 energy reform. The new rules require at least 54% of grid electricity to come from state utility CFE's own plants, capping private producers at 46% — a significant shift back toward state control after a decade in which private wind and solar developers had taken a leading role. The government frames this as reasserting national energy sovereignty and strengthening CFE and Pemex as "the people's companies"; industry groups and some analysts have expressed concern that it could slow private investment in renewables at a time when Mexico is also pursuing ambitious clean-energy targets, including a pledge to add over 30 GW of combined wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro capacity by 2030.
Questions
Questions about Mexican energy
Can Mexico grow renewables while also requiring most electricity to come from the state utility?
It's not necessarily a contradiction, but it does change who builds what. The 54% CFE requirement caps how much of the grid private companies can supply — it doesn't ban renewables, and CFE itself is building solar, wind, and geothermal capacity as part of its own 2025-2030 expansion plan, including new photovoltaic and geothermal projects. What changes is the mix of who's investing: under the pre-2024 liberalised system, private developers (often international firms like Iberdrola, Enel, or Naturgy) built and owned most solar and wind capacity and sold power competitively; under the reformed system, CFE's own build-out has to carry most of the growth, with private developers filling the remaining 46% ceiling. Whether Mexico hits its 2030 renewable targets under this model depends heavily on CFE's own execution capacity and financing — the government has committed over $22 billion to CFE's build-out — versus the faster capital deployment private developers had shown in the years before the reform. It's a genuine open question analysts are still tracking, not a settled one either way. Source: Chambers and Partners Renewable Energy 2025 Mexico Guide · Proyectos Mexico · IEA Mexico Country Profile.
Provenance
Attribution and citation
- Sources
- Global Energy Monitor · Wikipedia (Energy in Mexico) · IEA Mexico Country Profile · Chambers and Partners Renewable Energy 2025 Mexico Guide · ThinkGeoEnergy · Mexico Business News · Proyectos Mexico (Government of Mexico)
- Cite as
- "Mexico Energy Profile — Complete Reference", The Energy Codex, https://thecodex.expert/energy/countries/mexico/, last updated .