Mexico’s battery storage (BESS) market remains early in terms of operational utility-scale assets, but policy and project announcements are accelerating. A key reference project is Invenergy’s La Toba Energy Center in Baja California Sur, a hybrid plant that reached commercial operation in October 2022, combining 20 megawatts (MW), four-hour battery (approx. 80 megawatt hours (MWh) with solar generation.
The main driver is regulation and planning. Mexico introduced a grid-code-linked requirement for new wind and solar plants to co-locate batteries equivalent to 30 percent of installed capacity, with a minimum three-hour discharge duration.
Policymakers have linked this to an initial target of around 574 MW of new BESS by 2028. In parallel, Mexico has started to re-open a pathway for private investment in generation and storage through new permitting and award rounds.
Storage in Mexico can deliver high system value where grids are constrained or isolated, supporting reliability and enabling higher renewable penetration. However, the 30 percent / 3-hour rule is CapEx-intensive, raising financing needs and EPC/ operations complexity. Bankability also hinges on predictable interconnection timelines and monetizable revenue stacks.
Mexico’s green hydrogen landscape is still emerging, with early momentum coming from government-led groundwork: SENER has launched an open consultation to inform a renewable hydrogen roadmap and a future national plan. Near-term development is likely to cluster around existing industrial demand, especially refineries and other heavy industry, before expanding into new hubs (e.g., ports/industrial corridors) as project economics and regulation mature.
Mexican state-owned utility CFE is investing 6.49 billion Mexican pesos (about 361 million US dollars) in the third phase of Puerto Peñasco Solar + Storage complex in Sonora to add 300 megawatts (MW) of PV and 90 MW of BESS with a three hour duration, Phase IV will add 280 MW PV plus BESS (30 percent / 3 hours), investing 6.79 billion Mexican pesos (about 363 million US dollars). Phase III is currently under construction.
CFE is also developing the combined plant Carbón II & Río Escondido Solar + Storage in Coahuila. They have a capacity of 376 MWac (Carbón II) and 180 MWac (Río Escondido) and round an investment sum of 15.45 billion Mexican pesos (around 862.8 million US dollars), both with BESS sized at 30 percent / 3 hours.