The appointment of María Nohemí Arboleda Arango as the next Minister of Mines and Energy offers the first concrete indication of the direction Colombia's renewable energy sector could take after August 7. Her arrival from XM, the company responsible for operating the National Interconnected System and managing the Wholesale Energy Market, places electrical reliability and technical planning at the heart of the government's transition.
President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella has presented the appointment as a decision aimed at providing reassurance to the country and the markets. Arboleda will assume a portfolio with significant challenges: facilitating the entry of new projects, strengthening the adequacy of the energy supply, restoring investor confidence, and consolidating an energy transition that progresses without compromising the reliability of the system.
“It restores a lot of credibility. Someone with a clear vision is coming in, someone who knows what needs to be done. She has identified the alliances and the connections. She is ideal for the position,” said Natalia García , CEO of Enermant , in an interview with Energía Estratégica.
The profile of the future official coincides with one of the main demands expressed by the specialists interviewed by Energía Estratégica: to recover technical leadership, regulatory predictability and coordination between the institutions of the sector.
In contact with this media outlet, in addition to Natalia García; Adriana García Molano , a lawyer specializing in regulatory issues; Juan Pablo Gutiérrez , a lawyer in the energy sector; and Juanita Hernández Vidal , Managing Partner of Estudio Legal Hernández, agree that the new administration will not be able to limit itself to expanding solar and wind capacity.
System security, backup from variable energy sources, energy storage, and restoring investor confidence are among the immediate priorities. Arboleda's challenge will be to address the current situation without hindering the structural reforms the market needs.
“Right now, the important thing is to restore investor confidence because we are already paving the road that will take us there. The problem is that if there are no cars, the road is useless,” Natalia García warned.
Predictability will also be crucial for that confidence to translate into resources. Adriana García explains that developers need clear, stable, and enforceable rules regarding project remuneration, their tax impact, contracting mechanisms, and the demand's ability to pay. In a capital-intensive sector with long-term horizons, legal certainty is not a secondary matter: it is the condition that allows projects to be structured, financed, and executed with the confidence that the rules of the game will not change unexpectedly.
“Institutional frameworks are needed, in addition to stable legislation and regulations that give investors peace of mind so they can inject those resources and thus be able to execute the projects,” said the regulatory lawyer.
The incoming minister's first challenge will be ensuring sufficient supply in the face of growing demand and the risk of another El Niño event. Experts warn that the system faces a gap between consumption needs and the rate at which new power plants are coming online.
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“With the current energy supply and the demand that is growing at this rate, because we are already electrifying, there will be rationing, no matter what,” warns the CEO of Enermant.
“They need to see which projects are currently planned to come in and will actually come in, how they are going to cover what won't come in, and what they are going to do to ensure that what they have planned does come in,” he added.
Implementation will be just as important as designing new calls for proposals. Juan Pablo Gutiérrez urges caution regarding announcements of success and maintains that the outcome should be evaluated based on construction, contractual compliance, and the bankability of the initiatives. “ What interests me most is that the projects get done, the PPAs are fulfilled, and they are financed ,” he stated.
Gutiérrez warns that access to capital has become more complex after problems arose at some plants and with certain contracts. “Banks are increasingly cautious; we’ve already had some defaults at a few plants,” he noted.
This scenario will force the Ministry to combine immediate reliability measures with long-term planning. According to Juanita Hernández Vidal, the country must overcome a fragmented policy and comprehensively redefine the technologies it needs to support renewable energy growth.
“ We need to resume that national energy planning in a comprehensive way. I believe that one of the demands that should be made is: plan ,” remarked the Managing Partner of Estudio Legal Hernández.
“Colombia is growing exclusively on solar power ,” warned Hernández Vidal, who noted that the system operator is watching nighttime hours with concern starting in February 2027.
Therefore, the future minister will have to coordinate the advancement of photovoltaics with energy storage, sustainable hydroelectricity, biogas, offshore wind power generation, and grid expansion. Hernández Vidal summarizes the lack of a roadmap with a central question: “ What do I want my energy mix to look like by 2050? That part is currently unclear .”
Battery storage is emerging as one of the first available tools to address part of that gap. The new regulations enable arbitrage services, power allocation, grid stability, and hybridization schemes with renewable energy plants.
It is worth remembering that the current Government is launching the 2026 long-term clean energy contract auction, structured to promote contracts of up to 15 years and incorporate solar, wind, hybrid projects and battery storage systems.
Colombia's renewable energy future will therefore depend on more than just allocating new capacity. Arboleda will need to rebuild regulatory confidence, secure financing, accelerate the entry of projects, and define a power mix capable of responding both day and night.