Alstom has signed a contract with the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission CFE) to build the geothermal power plant "Los Humeros III— Phase A",  located in Chignautla, state of Puebla. The deal is worth €30 million.

This Alstom turnkey project includes all of the engineering, as well as the power plant construction, set-up equipment, steam turbine, turbo generator, systems control and high-voltage electric substation, and related equipment. The power plant is expected to start operations during the second quarter of 2016, and will operate using heat obtained by drilling steam extraction wells at a depth of up to 3,500 meters (11,500 ft.). When completed, the geothermal power plant is expected to provide the annual energy used by 40,000 people in Mexico.

Alstom's Los Humeros III power plant will operate in tandem with 2 other geothermal facilities the company recently installed in the same area. Combined with the new power facility, those three projects will have an installed capacity of 75 MW, meeting the annual power needs of 120,000 local inhabitants.

"Over the last decade, Alstom has participated in numerous geothermal power projects in Mexico that, when combined, add up to nearly 200 MW of installed capacity," said Cintia Angulo, Alstom Mexico Country president.

Mexico has the fourth-biggest geothermal power reserves in the world, just behind the United States, the Philippines and Indonesia.