Commission Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico's state-run power utility, has recently announced that it has secured $273 million from Japanese banks for the partial financing of a coal-fueled power plant and will issue $338 million in local bonds to complete the $611 million investment.

CFE, as the state power company is known, awarded the Carboelectrica del Pacifico project to Mitsubishi Corp. in 2005, with completion set for early this year.

According to the statement released by the CFE, “It had reached a financing deal Friday with the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation--the government's export-import bank--and with Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and Sumitomo Bank.”

Further, the company had also said that additional $338 million will be given as peso-denominated bonds in few days.

Moreover, the coal-fired plant in southern Guerrero state has a generating capacity of 651 megawatts.

The CFE said, “The cutting-edge technology used in the construction of the coal-fired plant will permit the CFE to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as reduce operating costs, since its operating efficiency is 41.2%, compared with 36% to 37% for existing plants of this kind.”