Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Thousands of people were left without electricity around the Yucatan Peninsula Monday. Some areas reported power outages lasting as long as 10 hours. The power cuts began around 3:00 p.m. due to a cogeneration plant failure.
According to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), poor quality natural gas in the Mayakán pipeline resulted in a failure at the Nuevo Pemex cogeneration plant.
Power failures were reported around dozens of regions of the Peninsula after at least four states in the southeast were without electricity. The blackout affected thousands in the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Tabasco and Campeche.
Due to the poor gas quality, generating plants were forced to switch to alternative fuels. To mitigate the impacts during this period of irregular supply, the Generation Subdirectorate, in coordination with the subsidiary CFEnergía and the National Energy Control Center (CENACE), decided to implement scheduled power outages for periods of time (rotating outages) to minimize the impact on users.
Due to this situation, users in the states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatan were affected. According to the CFE, as of 2:30 a.m. (Central Mexico time), only 47 percent of users had normalized service.
In Quintana Roo, power outages were reported in seven municipalities including Cancun, Bacalar, Tulum, Puerto Morelos, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. The sudden blackout left traffic snarled and businesses closed. Transit officials were forced to direct traffic during the intermittent service.
In a statement, the CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) said “poor natural gas quality was reported due to high humidity in the Mayakán pipeline. This resulted from a failure at the Nuevo Pemex cogeneration plant, limiting electricity generation using this fuel.
“Due to poor gas quality, generating plants were forced to switch to alternative fuels. To mitigate the impacts during this period of irregular supply, the Generation Subdirectorate, in coordination with the subsidiary CFEnergía and the National Energy Control Center (CENACE), decided to implement scheduled power outages for periods of time (rotating outages) to minimize the impact on users.
“Due to this situation, users in the states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Yucatán were affected. Of the total number of affected users, 47% now have access to service.
“CFE and PEMEX are working together to fully restore electrical service,” CFE reported in an official statement late Monday night.
