Mexico's state power utility CFE has opened a 342kWh capacity, 468-panel solar plant in Mulegé, in Baja California Sur state, the first of 40 such
plants designed to bring electrification to areas on the peninsula that have remained off-grid until now.
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The Mulegé plant will supply electricity to local households, schools and a hospital in the village of Luis Echeverría, for which new distribution
infrastructure has been put in place.
The village relies on gas for refrigeration and has to ship in ice from neighboring towns, while clothes are ironed by heating an iron in an open
fire, according to a CFE press release.
The town has no mobile telephone signal and the only telephone connection will depend on electricity supplied by the new solar plant and the only WiFi
installation will be the one used to monitor the plant, it added.
The Baja California peninsula has a separate grid to the rest of Mexico.
The project to bring electrification to the peninsula's off-grid areas is being coordinated by the energy ministry (Sener) with support from the World
Bank, and similar plants will be built in other areas of Baja California Sur to supply residents with electric power.
The new solar plant has a 48-hour backup battery, allowing it to supply electricity to the community even when there is no sunlight.
During the inauguration of the plant, residents were asked to use no more than two domestic appliances at any one time, and to make rational use of
the electricity.
Other villages to benefit from the planned electrification works include San Juanico (pictured), a small coastal community in the Comundú municipality
on the Sea of Cortés.
The works require the construction of a transmission line crossing terrain belonging to various landowners, and for which an agreement had not been
reached in the past in order to begin construction.
A power plant built 18 years ago to supply San Juanico is now insufficient to power all of the local homes, given the village's growth in recent
years, and around 50% of its inhabitants are without electric power, the CFE said.
San Juanico relies on an isolated electricity grid and the townsfolk need to come to an agreement over rights to access for the proposed transmission
line, in order to enable all residents to be supplied with electric power, the CFE said.
Once an agreement is reached, it will take eight months to build the transmission line to San Juanico.
Power Generationwoody with a view - 4-26-2016 at 08:39 AM
Cool. I'm sure everyone will stick to the two appliance rule!MMc - 4-26-2016 at 08:56 AM
Baja is getting smaller. I am sure the locals life will be much better. good fot them.Bajaboy - 4-26-2016 at 09:06 AM
Street lights!Gulliver - 4-26-2016 at 10:04 AM
I hope that everyone understands that this refers to the 'county' (district?) of Mulege and not the city of Mulege. This can be confusing.
We have reasonably reliable juice here in Heroica Mulege. They do seem to turn off the whole town when a wall outlet needs rewiring. Or something like
that. Dunno.
The operative word for life here in Baja seems to be "Random". Just go with the flow.4x4abc - 4-26-2016 at 11:58 AM
Cool. I'm sure everyone will stick to the two appliance rule!
why not? At this point they don't have any appliances (remember, they never had power before?) Gulliver - 4-26-2016 at 12:52 PM
I'm damned if I am going to tell some poor goat farmer that his wife can't have an iron when my stateside power consumption is off the charts.
They have had generators but that's a really expensive way to produce a few KWA.
My gas consumption just getting back and forth from Mulege to Washington state once a year would run Cadaje for a month or two. My old 84 351W engine
is getting 9 mph parked outside right now!
If crude prices spike in early May this year, I did it.woody with a view - 4-26-2016 at 01:08 PM
Not being one to argue but what exactly does their wind farm produce electricity for? Is a fridge and tv phantom objects to them?
Edit: I appreciate Gringo Hill has grown like a zit in the past 10-15 years so maybe there isn't enuf juice for the little guy?
[Edited on 4-26-2016 by woody with a view]MulegeAL - 4-26-2016 at 03:00 PM
If crude prices spike in early May this year, I did it.
It was under 2 bux in pdx, but not anymore. Did you start that thing?
Diesel on the dock is less than gas on the street now. Been laying varnish as weather permits. End of hijack!
Yes, Baja is feeling smaller, but is still a great place, good to see the emphasis on solar. CFE should offer LED powered irons for free.MMc - 4-26-2016 at 03:50 PM
