Celsia was one of the major players in Colombia's long-term energy auction. The company concentrated most of the allocated energy in Product 3, intended for new renewable projects with storage systems, and was awarded the entire volume that the competition rules allowed it to submit.
“We wanted to have a strong presence in product categories three and four; we even had a portfolio for category two. But for strategic reasons, we wanted to focus strongly on a relevant portfolio of projects for those two categories,” said Gabriel Salazar, Storage Leader at Celsia , in an exclusive interview with Energía Estratégica .
The executive describes the process as successful for having opened up space for hybrid projects and confirmed a strong demand for renewable energy at night.
However, Salazar noted: “We came in with a massive investment, but unfortunately, the competitive landscape limited the energy we could allocate. The key takeaway is that there is a very strong appetite on the demand side.”
According to the executive, the result achieved represents approximately 25% of the portfolio that Celsia had available to participate in the mechanism . In other words, the company still retains around 75% of that hybrid portfolio to boost it through other commercial alternatives.
The remaining percentage is not interpreted by the company as idle capacity. On the contrary, buyer behavior confirmed that there is room to place that energy through other mechanisms.
“There are other paths, other tools or ways to market that energy such as contracts, agreements or upcoming auctions, understanding that there is already a need from the buying side,” the executive said.
This interpretation is supported by the difference observed between the volumes demanded and the energy that was ultimately contracted. For Celsia, the tender provided an indication of the interest of energy retailers and the value they place on renewable generation delivered outside of peak daylight hours.
It's worth noting that the auction resulted in 995 MW of solar capacity and nearly 100 MW of battery storage awarded , distributed among four companies and six projects. Products 2 and 3 were the only ones that fully secured their allocation, while categories 1 and 4 received no contracts.
Product 3 brought together contracts for two time blocks totaling 270 MW of solar plants plus 100 MW of battery storage. The first block runs from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, while the second covers the period from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Celsia was awarded the Andromeda Solar Park , with a connection point to the Toluviejo 220 kV substation. The company aims to have it operational by 2028, although the auction contract begins on January 1, 2031. The company also participated as an offtaker in its role as an energy trader in Product 2.
The allocation for category 3 reached 390 MWh/day . The purchasers were Empresa de Energía de Pereira and Empresa de Energía del Quindío. The difference between the results for products 2 and 3 provides an initial economic indication. The exclusively solar category closed at $246.13 per kWh , while the hybrid scheme reached $315.87 per kWh , representing a premium of approximately 28%.
“There was a willingness on the part of the demand to buy a value that ultimately indicates that we are valuing the delivery of that energy at a time of scarcity, which is a peak period as we call it in Colombia,” Salazar stated.
Product 4 left an outstanding signal for the batteries
Celsia's strategy did not end with Product 3. The company had also prepared a significant stake in Product 4 , designed exclusively to supply energy between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM using storage systems.
For the company, this segment represented an opportunity to find out how much the Colombian market was willing to pay for a block supplied exclusively from a storage system .
“For Product 4 there was no reference. If you analyze the history here in Colombia, there wasn't a basic reference price,” the executive explained.
The category, however, did not run the award algorithm. Three sellers had reached the submission stage, but one of them withdrew when participants had to adjust their volumes to meet the competition indicator.
“Actually, there were three of us who were able to reach that point. We made some offers, we delivered energy and prices,” Salazar recounted.
The departure of one of the agents left Product 4 below the minimum required and blocked the continuation of the process. In addition to preventing the projects from being awarded, this outcome prevented the establishment of a public price benchmark for that time slot.
Celsia expected the behavior observed in Product 3 to carry over into the next trading day. The premium recorded compared to the solar category suggested that buyers were willing to recognize the value of storage.
“One would think there is a high appetite. I don’t know if it’s the same 9.2 GWh that Products 2 and 3 were looking for, but there is certainly a good amount,” the executive estimated.
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What changes do you expect for future rounds?
Although Salazar evaluates the auction positively, he identifies necessary adjustments to broaden participation and prevent hybrid projects from being excluded by rules designed for more mature markets .
The first observation focuses on the competition indicator. The conditions required a minimum of three bidders and limited each participant to a maximum of 40% of all energy submitted.
The cap didn't only apply to the final award. If a company exceeded that percentage during the submission phase, it had to reduce its volume before the algorithm determined the contracts. This condition, for example, impacted Celsia in Product 3. The company had more energy available, but had to restrict its proposal to comply with the rules.
“ We have much more energy to offer ,” Salazar stated. According to the executive, other developers have faced a similar situation. For this reason, the volume published as the final offer does not necessarily reflect all the energy that the participants had prepared.
The problem is even more pronounced in energy storage. While the Colombian photovoltaic industry boasts a broad portfolio of projects and a large number of developers, the battery market still has few mature assets, approved connection points, and advanced permits .
“Probably, for these types of projects, which are somewhat new to the country, the indicator should be a differentiated one. We need to encourage entities to evaluate, for these newer products, whether the indicators can perhaps be a bit more flexible in terms of participants, in terms of how that energy participation is limited,” he emphasized.
The auction required approved connection points, environmental progress reports, and financial guarantees—filters that Celsia considers necessary to ensure that the projects are built.
These requirements could explain part of the difference between initial interest and the number of participants who were awarded the contract. However, strict maturity requirements can coexist with competition parameters adapted to storage .
“The demand is finally there. So the projects are left waiting to see if a new mechanism will arrive, if a new date will be announced, or what will happen with them,” Salazar warned.
Celsia expects continuity and new auctions
The company believes that the products that remained unassigned could be included in future tenders. During the public consultation process for the mechanism, the Ministry of Mines and Energy had expressed its intention to move forward with more rounds.
According to reports, the authorities mentioned the possibility of developing three additional processes , although they did not set any dates. Their continuation will now depend on the decisions of the new government and the team that takes over the management of the energy sector.
The Colombian Mercantile Exchange would also have the capacity to carry out further iterations. However, it will be up to the next Ministry to decide whether to reactivate the vacant categories and under what conditions.
“Hopefully, a future auction will seek to relax some of the minor restrictions that may have existed in this one, both in terms of the projects themselves and the way they were awarded,” Salazar stated.
For Celsia, speed will be crucial. Supply commitments from this tender begin in 2030, so postponing new rounds could further delay the entry of subsequent projects.
The executive believes that Colombia needs successive mechanisms that respond both to unmet demand and to the need to incorporate generation in the coming years.
“If there’s already an appetite from the buying side, then there’s a lack of energy there. It would be great if additional mechanisms could be accelerated in the short term to achieve the same timeframes that this tender was seeking,” he said.
Celsia's strategy aims to exceed 1 GWh in storage assets by 2030 through hybrid projects, stand-alone systems, and solutions for ancillary services, electricity grids, and contracts that recognize the value of dispatchable energy. The company plans to complement this portfolio with associated solar capacity also exceeding approximately 1 GW.
In Colombia, it is advancing with self-consumption solutions for industrial clients, which integrate photovoltaic plants of between 10 MW and 19.9 MW with storage systems of 10, 15 and 20 MWh .
Salazar believes that the new regulations for storage in Colombia provide visibility for structuring business cases. “ There are already rules in place, and we will abide by them, suggesting changes we deem necessary along the way ,” he stated.
In addition, Celsia is developing hybrid initiatives and stand-alone systems in Central America and Peru. Among its main projects is a business solution in Honduras, through its subsidiary Atera, which will combine approximately 30 MW of solar power with nearly 90 MWh of battery storage .