Solar power plant in Baja California, Mexico. Approximate location 32.4169, -115.2341.
SolarBaja CaliforniaMexicoPV
Cerro Prieto is a 1 MW solar power plant in Baja California, Mexico. It is operated by Comisión Federal de Electricidad EPE [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 425 homes (estimated). It ranks #365 of 366 Mexico power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2017, it is around 9 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 7.4% of Mexico's electricity; the national grid averages 474 gCO₂/kWh (25.9% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id MEX0006619.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 8 MW for Cerro Prieto Solar Project, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).
Capacity claim grade: A3_MAJOR_REVIEW_SCOPE_STATUS - recommended action: manual_scope_status_check - confidence: low_until_scope_verified. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000807073); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 1 MW, Cerro Prieto is below the median solar plant in Mexico (50 MW). Technically it is described as PV. Solar PV converts sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts or fuel; output varies by time of day and weather, so it pairs with storage or flexible backup.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Comisión Federal de Electricidad EPE [100%].
This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 32.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 79% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 21/100 — this site sits in the bottom third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 2.2% at warm-season highs here (estimate).
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with dust abrasion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #28 largest solar power plant of 29 in Mexico by capacity.
Mexico has 29 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 2,736 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 32.4169, -115.2341 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Cerro Prieto is a 1 MW source-record solar power plant in Baja California, Mexico, commissioned in 2017.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 425 homes (estimated).
Cerro Prieto is operated by Comisión Federal de Electricidad EPE [100%].
