Celsia seeks to take energy storage to a new scale in Colombia , at a time when the country is beginning to make room for batteries both in regulation and in long-term contracting mechanisms.
“Our goal is to close with at least 1 GWh of installed energy storage in the next five years ,” said Simón Pérez , Investment Platforms Leader at Celsia, during Future Energy Summit (FES) Colombia 2026 .
This objective represents a significant leap forward compared to the company's initial experiences. In late 2024, Celsia commissioned a 1 MW/2 MWh BESS (Basic Energy Storage System) at Solar Palmira 2 in Valle del Cauca, coupled with a 9.9 MW photovoltaic plant. That project served as an initial operational experience in shifting solar power generation from daylight hours to nighttime.
Now, the company is starting to consider developments of a different magnitude.
One of the first steps was taken in the recent long-term contract auction, where Celsia was awarded product 3, corresponding to solar plus storage . Its initial proposal included 200 MWh, but the mechanism ultimately allocated 75 MWh .
The company also plans to move forward with the remaining 125 MWh and seek to market them through bilateral contracts. In addition to this initiative, it has another 200 MW of storage associated with a solar project that is now beginning construction .
The strategy will also extend to the commercial and industrial segments. Celsia has a B2B portfolio of nearly 200 MWp and anticipates that an additional 60 MWp can be developed over the next two years in conjunction with storage solutions.
For Pérez, this segment can become another engine for batteries: the combination of solar plus storage allows industrial customers to reduce their exposure to grid tariffs and, at the same time, provide protection against the volatility of the electricity market.
Colombia begins to open its market for BESS
Celsia's roadmap appears at a time of change for Colombian storage.
In April 2026, the Government called a new long-term energy procurement auction that incorporated for the first time specific products for battery storage systems and hybrid projects .
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The process concluded in July with 995 MW of solar generation and nearly 100 MW of battery storage systems awarded , according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. It was the country's first long-term contracting mechanism to incorporate these types of solutions.
In parallel, the CREG approved in June the rules for the installation, operation and commercial aspects of Battery Electrical Energy Storage Systems (SAEB) within the National Interconnected System, another necessary step to expand its participation in the market.
This regulatory progress coincides with a growing need for new capacity. Official analyses used during 2026 identified a deficit between annual energy demand and firm energy for the period 2026-2030 , in addition to constraints related to transmission infrastructure.
Demand already far exceeds supply.
For Celsia, the latest auction showed that commercial interest already exists.
For product 3, demand reached nearly 10 GWh per day , approximately ten times the available supply. For product 4, designed to meet peak nighttime demand, the difference was also more than ten times.
“This is not a question of whether it will arrive or not, but of how we design the appropriate mechanisms for the ends to meet,” Pérez said.
Therefore, the company believes that storage growth should not rely solely on auctions. Bilateral contracts, B2B agreements, reliability charges, and long-term mechanisms should work in a complementary manner to allow each project to find a viable commercial structure.
The technological context also works in their favor. Pérez pointed out that around 300 GWh of storage are installed globally each year , with year-on-year growth of nearly 50%, while system costs have been reduced by approximately half over the last two years.
For Celsia, the opportunity now lies in transferring that dynamic to the Colombian market: moving from small MWh projects to larger-scale projects and combining auction signals with private contracts to reach the goal of 1 GWh over the next five years .