April 22, 2026 | By Raquel Bierzwinsky in New York and Carlos Campuzano in Mexico City
Mexico’s National Energy Commission (CNE) has approved a new framework for electricity storage, opening the door to multiple deployment models and offering greater clarity on how and where storage can participate in the power system.
New regulations set out how electric energy storage systems (SAEE, by the acronym in Spanish) may be developed and interconnected and, if applicable, sell products into the market. Storage systems may participate either on a standalone basis or alongside power plants and load centers. They may also be installed as part of transmission and distribution infrastructure to support system reliability.
Standalone storage systems of 0.7 MW or more must obtain storage permits from the CNE and be represented in the wholesale electricity market by a market participant, such as a generator, supplier or storage company.
Five Options
The new framework offers five distinct development options.
Storage systems associated with power plants. These storage systems are treated as part of the generating asset, share the same interconnection point and do not require a separate storage permit.
This option is available only for renewable generation and allows storage systems with at least three hours’ duration to qualify and be accredited as firm capacity in the capacity market and to sell capacity in the capacity balance market, subject to interconnection studies based on physical deliverability criteria.
These storage systems may charge either from the grid or from the co-located power plant, and their market products are sold through the market participant representing the generator.
If the storage system is charged from the grid, then the market participant representing the power plant must submit offers to purchase power in the short-term market.
If charged from the co-located power plant, then the project’s sale offers in the wholesale electricity market must exclude the energy used to charge the storage system.
Existing power plants with generation permits granted under legal regimes predating the issuance of the Electricity Sector Law in March 2025 must migrate those permits to the new regime before integrating storage equipment.
Power injected into the grid by power plants with co-located storage systems may not exceed the nameplate capacities indicated in their interconnection agreements.
If a generator intends to install a storage system to increase the capacity under its interconnection agreement, it must request interconnection studies, amend its generation permit and interconnection agreement, complete the applicable testing and get commercial operation approval from CENACE for the new equipment.
Storage systems associated with load centers. Any energy storage system in this modality is treated as part of the consumer’s installation, shares the same grid connection point and does not require a storage permit.
Use is limited to behind-the-meter consumption. Stored energy cannot be injected into the grid or sold.
These systems must charge from the grid and must source electricity either through suppliers or by participating directly in the wholesale electricity market as qualified users.
Storage systems associated with self-consumption projects. Storage systems may be co-located with self-consumption facilities either by end users or by holders of self-consumption generation permits.
End users may install systems as part of data centers, factories or other "consumption facilities" without storage permits, but the storage capacity cannot exceed the load center’s demand.
Holders of self‑consumption generation permits may also integrate energy storage systems into generating facilities without storage permits. However, the storage system must not increase the permitted capacity of the generating facility.
Energy stored in these storage systems must be used on-site and cannot be exported to the grid, except in the limited case of interconnected self-consumption projects authorized to sell excess energy to the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE).
Storage systems integrated into transmission and distribution infrastructure. These storage systems are deployed by CFE, as owner of the national transmission and distribution grids, to enhance grid reliability.
They do not require storage permits, cannot participate in the wholesale electricity market and do not receive compensation for the energy they manage. Instead, their costs are recovered through regulated transmission and distribution tariffs.
CFE may partner with private parties to develop these systems, subject to authorization by the Ministry of Energy (SENER) and alignment with central planning criteria. Ownership of the assets must remain exclusively with CFE.
Standalone storage systems. These systems are not linked to a power plant, load center or grid infrastructure. They must obtain storage permits and interconnect to the grid, and they may participate directly in the wholesale electricity market as storage providers or be represented by generators or suppliers.
They may qualify as firm capacity, and be accredited as such, if interconnection studies meet physical delivery criteria.
The storage permit will specify the services each standalone project may provide, including frequency regulation, backup, ancillary services, congestion management and renewable integration.
Standalone projects may enter into short-, medium- and long-term contracts with CENACE, the independent system operator, if storage is identified under the central planning system as an efficient solution for system reliability. CENACE, as part of its central planning activities, must identify zones, regions and nodes where integration of energy storage systems will benefit the grid.
Standalone storage systems may also offer backup services to interconnected self-consumption projects to meet the statutory backup requirements, as well as to generating facilities that must mitigate intermittency but choose not to install their own storage systems.
Other Considerations
Integrating storage into existing generating or load facilities is treated as a “technical modification” for interconnection purposes, requiring interconnection or connection studies from CENACE. CENACE will determine the scope of the required analysis.
Developers of storage projects must request interconnection studies if they intend to inject energy into the grid, and connection studies if they intend to withdraw energy, although both processes may be combined into a single application.
In interconnection studies, CENACE will assess variability in generating facilities and may require the integration of storage or equivalent backup arrangements as a condition for interconnection. Where storage is used to mitigate variability, developers must maintain operational capacity throughout the life of the project, including by replacing or upgrading systems as performance degrades over time.
Storage systems also may be used by groups of market participants. Grouping is permitted only among parties that share the same legal or market status: generators, basic supply service users, qualified users or applicants for interconnection of power plants or connection of load centers. Grouping must comply with central planning criteria, and may occur solely within the same substation, node or electrical area that CENACE deems technically appropriate.
Storage systems that charge from the grid and participate in the wholesale electricity market as non-dispatchable resources are treated as load-serving entities, meaning they must acquire capacity and clean energy certificates in connection with their electricity consumption. Storage systems that charge from the grid but participate as dispatchable resources are exempted from these obligations.
Storage systems participating in the wholesale electricity market may enter into bilateral long-term agreements with other market participants to sell capacity and other products.
Standalone storage systems and such systems that are co-located with power plants may enter into long-term agreements with load-serving entities to supply the energy and capacity these entities are legally required to procure for future periods, reinforcing the role of storage as a planning and compliance tool within the sector.
The regulatory framework for storage systems is not yet complete. Several key market rules still need to be updated to align with these provisions, including interconnection manuals, short-term market bidding functionality for storage, and the methodology for the variability analysis to be carried out by CENACE. Until those changes are in place, there will be a transitional period in which storage systems will be treated as load when withdrawing energy from the grid and as generation when injecting electricity into the grid.