The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will electrify 44% of the route of the Maya Train -690 kilometers (km)-, for which two Combined Cycle Power Plants (CCC) and 53 connection works are being constructed to provide traction force to the train and regulate voltage. This railway project requires the construction of a comprehensive electrical system to integrate it into the National Electrical System.
The General Director of the CFE, Manuel Bartlett Diaz, outlined the 53 works being carried out by the Corporate Directorate of Engineering and Infrastructure Projects (DCIPI), which are grouped into 7 Tractive Electric Substations (SET) and divided into 2 stages.
Stage 1, comprising SET packages 1, 2, and 3, includes 19 works for the Mérida-Cancun region, with the following progress:
- 7 works for Substation 1 at 82% completion
- 6 works for Substation 2 at 89% completion
- 6 works for Substation 3 at 73% completion
Operational testing will take place in May 2023, with energization and commissioning scheduled for October 2023.
Stage 2, comprising SET packages 4, 5, 6, and 7, integrates 34 works for the Cancun-Chetumal region, with the following progress:
- 7 works for Substation 4 at 16% completion
- 10 works for Substation 5 at 15% completion
- 10 works for Substation 6 at 20% completion
- 7 works for Substation 7 at 24% completion.
There is a global progress of 20%. Completion and commissioning are scheduled for November 2023.
The CFE has obtained all required permits, properties, and rights-of-way for the works, which include social impact assessment, indigenous consultation, archaeological salvage, construction licenses, paid property rights, and provisional authorizations (environmental and land use change).
In the 27 electrical substations being built along the train tracks and highways, green walls with native flora will be planted. 13,000 square meters will be reforested with 2,300 trees and shrubs of 8 regional species. 49 of the planned 78 adaptations at railway crossings with high-tension lines have already been completed, 3 are under construction, and 26 are in the planning stage.
As part of the indigenous consultation process, the CFE received 259 requests in 15 assemblies: 114 for rehabilitation, maintenance, and expansion of the power grid, as well as requests to improve infrastructure and services in localities. 84 have already been addressed, 27 will be completed by July 2023, and 3 are in budgetary management.
Bartlett Diaz also reported on the works being carried out by CFE Distribution to adapt the operating network through 170 electricity services distributed over 556 kilometers of medium-voltage lines:
- 445 kilometers will be overhead, and
- 111 kilometers will be underground.
- 5,562 poles will be installed,
- increasing capacity in the electrical substations of Kanasín, Tulum, and Insurgentes.
In addition, these 556 kilometers will include
- 117 technical booths,
- 34 stations and stops,
- 6 workshops and garages,
- 8 maintenance bases, and
- 3 Sedena buildings.
The works have a 21% progress (10 services completed and 160 will be finished by July 2023).
The 170 services are divided into 6 packages:
Package 1 Yucatan. Sections 3 and 4
- 34 services
- 102 km of medium voltage line
- It will conclude in July 2023
Package 2 Campeche. Sections 1, 2, 3 and 7
- 58 services
- 124 km of medium voltage line
- It will conclude between May and June 2023
Package 3 Cancun. Sections 4 and 5
- 14 services
- 51 km of medium voltage line
- It will conclude in June 2023
Package 4 Riviera Maya. Sections 5 and 6
- 18 service
- 165 km of medium voltage line
- It will conclude in July 2023
Package 5 Chetumal. Sections 6 and 7
- 33 services
- 75 km of medium voltage line
- It will conclude in July 2023
Package 6 Southeast. Section 1
- 13 services
- 40 km of medium voltage line
Three will end in November 2022 and 10 will end in May 2023.
To power the 170 services, a total of 48 distribution substations and 92 distribution circuits will be used, and the execution of the works is supervised in 365 crossings of medium voltage lines that need to be modified due to the passage of the train tracks, of which 120 are completed and 245 are in process.
