Chetumal’s 500-Hectare Solar Park Awaits Green Light

Chetumal, MX. – If the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) is approved by the General Directorate of Environmental Impact and Risk (Dgira), within 30 months (by 2027), the southern region of Quintana Roo will have a 500-hectare Photovoltaic Park called “PFV Chetumal,” which will produce alternating electrical energy to supplement that already provided by the CFE at the Xul-Há substation.

“The interconnection of the PFV Chetumal with the electrical grid of the Federal Electricity Commission (C.F.E.) will be carried out, thus enabling the evacuation of all generated energy. It is important to mention that this interconnection will take place at an existing substation, which is in operation and owned by the C.F.E., and will undergo an expansion process that will be part of the construction process of the PFV (Photovoltaic Project) Chetumal, which is being evaluated in this MIA-R,” specifies the project with folio 23QR2025E0047 in the hands of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat).

The project will have three main components: solar panel area, substations, and internal roads; similarly, it is important to reiterate that the “Expansion of the Substation” is named as such because the substation currently exists, is in operation, and is owned by the CFE, so only the expansion of this substation will be considered for this project.

The project will have a nominal power of 237.93 Mega Watts (MW), a peak power of 241.83 MW; for this, the promoters plan the installation of 396,443 photovoltaic modules of 610 Wp each.

This project will also have a control building, whose facilities will be responsible for the surveillance, security, and control of the energy generated in the project. The building will be located within the area considered for the construction of the project’s step-up substation.

The main control building will have a staff office area; the design of the building and its foundation to the ground will be done according to applicable local and national legislation. The size of the building and the number and configuration of rooms and restrooms will be a function of the number of people assigned to the Plant.

If carried out, given the characteristics of the existing electrical system in the area, for the evacuation of all energy generated by the PFV, the construction of a new overhead electrical line with a voltage of 115 kV will be necessary.

“The installation of conductor cable from the termination frame of the Step-up Substation to the termination frame of the Expansion of the Substation (Property of CFE) will be carried out, of a circuit with one conductor per phase arrangement and the installation of OPGW 36 optical fiber as a guard wire, for approximately 90 m that is located within the PFV lands,” concludes the application document.