The SENER-OHL consortium and the CFE sign the provisional acceptance report for the Empalme I combined-cycle plant

The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in Mexico and the SENER-OHL consortium have signed the Provisional Acceptance Report for the Empalme I combined-cycle plant, located in the municipality of Empalme, in the State of Sonora (Mexico).

The turnkey or EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) project consisted of building a combined-cycle plant with a guaranteed net capacity of 770 MW, and includes a cooling water intake facility for the Empalme I and II plants.

The plant has the following components:

• Two gas turbines.
• Two heat recovery steam generators.
• One steam turbine.
• Cooling water intake facility with dual 1,000 m long, 3.2 m diameter ducts and a 3.2 m diameter, 1,200 m long discharge duct.

The 445 million euro (477 million dollar) contract, awarded in 2015, was defrayed using the PIDIREGAS (Spanish acronym for Production Infrastructure Investment Project with Deferred Registration of the Expense) private financing model.

This facility features cutting-edge technology that makes it one of the most efficient in CFE’s portfolio. It uses an innovative system to produce electricity in a way that is more environmentally friendly, which will no doubt improve the quality of life in surrounding communities, and in the northwest of Mexico as a whole. It is estimated that 7.5 million man-hours of work were generated thanks to this project, much of that done by the local workforce.

For both SENER and OHL, this project is yet another example of their commitment to the social and economic progress of Mexico, where both companies have entered into other significant EPC contracts to generate electricity. In this one in particular, the consortium completed the basic and detailed engineering, supplied the equipment, materials, spares and special tools, and was responsible for the construction, testing, commissioning and start-up.

View of Empalme I (Mexico).