On October 17, 2025, the Secretaría de Energía (“SENER”) published the Call for priority attention to applications for electric generation permits and interconnection to the National Electric System. Both instruments are part of the new regulatory framework derived from the Law on Energy Planning and Transition.
On October 17, 2025, the Secretaría de Energía (“SENER”) published the Call for priority attention to applications for electric generation permits and interconnection to the National Electric System, aligned with the new Binding Planning of the Electric Sector (“Call for Permits”), as well as the General Administrative Provisions for Binding Planning in the Activity of Electric Energy Generation (“DACG”) and together with the Call for Permits, the “Publications”. Both instruments are part of the new regulatory framework derived from the Law on Energy Planning and Transition (“LPTE”) its regulation and the Regulation of the Electric Sector Law (“RLSE”), which consolidate the transition towards a centralized model of binding state planning, replacing the open market scheme of generation projects derived from the 2013 energy reform.
Below is an executive summary with the most relevant aspects of the Publications and their implications for participants in the electric sector.
A. Call for Permits
The Call for Permits constitutes the first formal exercise of binding planning of the Mexican electric sector. Through it, the SENER and the Comisión Nacional de Energía (“CNE”) will define the generation projects that may obtain permits and interconnect to the National Electric System (“SEN”) during the 2025-2030 cycle, under criteria of reliability, sovereignty, energy social justice, environmental sustainability, and technological innovation. This is in line with the publication of the Electric Sector Development Plan (“PLADESE”), which establishes a long-term vision (2025-2039) with 76,000 MW of new capacity and 1,800 MW of substitutions, of which almost 80% will correspond to clean technologies, as well as defining the objectives of expansion and reliability of the system, identifying areas with deficits and priority technologies, while the Call and the DACG establish the general criteria to evaluate private proposals within that framework.
The main objective is to align the expansion of installed capacity with state electric infrastructure plans, prioritizing areas and technologies considered strategic. This scheme replaces the free application regime that prevailed since the 2013 energy reform.
• Requirements and Application Process: The Call for Permits precisely delineates the types of projects that may participate and establishes peremptory deadlines and strict procedures, centralized through official electronic platforms.
• Eligible Projects and Exclusions: Eligible projects will be those power plants with a capacity greater than 0.7 MW, which contribute to meeting the system's needs according to the PLADESE. Excluded from this Call are distributed generation projects, self-consumption, efficient cogeneration, and schemes for mixed development, as attention is focused on larger scale plants considered strategic within the binding planning.
• Electronic Windows: Management is carried out through the Single Window for Strategic Projects of the Energy Sector (“VUPE”), where interested parties must register their expression of interest and request for interconnection studies before the CENACE, and the Electronic Official Office (“OPE”), the exclusive means to submit applications for generation permits and associated procedures.
• Procedure Schedule:
◦ Registration of expression of interest and request for interconnection studies: from October 20 to 24, 2025. Only registrations within this period will be accepted.
◦ Payment for Studies to CENACE: Communication of amounts on October 27, with a deadline for payment and proof from October 28 to 31.
◦ Permit Application: Submission to the OPE from October 28 to November 5.
◦ Publication of results of the Call for Permits: December 11, 2025, through the VUPE and the official CNE portal.
• Obligations after permit issuance: Approved permits, expected to be issued between December 11 and 12, 2025, incorporate the following deadlines and terms:
◦ Financing: Presentation of the financial scheme within a maximum of 6 months.
◦ Guarantees: Presentation to the CENACE of the guarantee for reinforcement works.
◦ Authorizations: Obtaining the final authorizations of the Social Impact Statement of the Energy Sector, as well as the authorization in environmental impact matters.
◦ Start of works: Within 6 months following the obtaining of such authorizations.
◦ Prohibition of permit assignment: Until the Commercial Operation Entry.
• CRE/CNE Procedures: Additionally, holders of previous procedures before the defunct CRE or the CNE itself may adhere to the new process, provided they formally withdraw the previous procedure once the new permit is obtained.
• Alignment with planning: The CNE will consult the SENER to confirm the coherence of each application with the needs defined in the PLADESE, considering:
◦ Investment amount allocated to the Social Management Plan,
◦ Contribution to technological innovation, and
◦ Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Eligibility Criteria: In case the requested capacity exceeds the Required Capacity available by zone or substation, priority criteria will be applied that favor:
◦ Projects that contribute to the reliability, continuity, quality, and safety of the SEN,
◦ Use of clean or hybrid technologies, and
◦ Positive socioeconomic impact on local communities.
The selection results will be officially published on December 11, along with the capacity assigned to each project and the corresponding resolutions.
B. General Administrative Provisions (DACG)
The DACG complement the regulatory framework.
