As this publication previously reported, Colombia must incorporate more renewable energy projects to reduce its heavy reliance on hydroelectric power, as this energy source is insufficient to meet the country's high energy demand during periods of drought. In line with this objective, the Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME) recently presented a revised version of its generation expansion plan for 2037, projecting that the total installed capacity of the generation system by 2037 will range between 34.7 GW and 37.7 GW, representing a growth of between 70% and 85% compared to the current capacity of 20.3 GW. The plan highlights that the composition of Colombia's energy mix will undergo a significant transformation toward non-conventional renewable energy sources, reaching a share of up to 53% by 2037 from wind, solar, small hydroelectric plants, and other smaller facilities. Within the framework of these estimates, the director of the UPME (Mining and Energy Planning Unit), Carlos Adrián Correa Flórez , provides a detailed analysis of the current situation and reveals to Energía Estratégica how they have been working to diversify Colombia's energy mix in order to be prepared to face the upcoming climate phenomena. Considering the lessons learned after overcoming the most critical stage of El Niño, will they implement any contingency plan to increase the volume of renewable energy in anticipation of future dry periods? The Contingency Plan has been under development for some time, and not specifically as a result of the El Niño phenomenon.
UPME has approved around 400 renewable energy projects at various stages of development. These represent almost 3 GW of wind projects and 14.1 GW of solar projects. However, we are going beyond our legal obligations. Through a team of professionals called Team 6G, we are providing support for these renewable energy projects to become operational, assisting with all the necessary procedures for their completion. Furthermore, we are implementing a very aggressive plan to modernize and upgrade the transmission network, which is also decades behind schedule.
We have made it a priority to modernize this transmission system.
Since last year, we have launched 10 calls for bids for national transmission systems and awarded 8 of those 10 projects . The intention is to continue launching calls for bids in 2024 for system components that will help make operations more flexible, such as synchronous compensators and batteries, in order to continue awarding more projects. In addition, we will be presenting several packages of urgent projects this year as part of our plan to fine-tune our transmission system. XM revealed that there are 1,029 MW currently in the testing phase with operational start dates between 2024 and 2025. What regulatory challenges must be overcome to ensure they come online on time? Some of the requirements need to be relaxed so that these projects can transition to commercial operation. Some tests are very demanding and dependent on weather conditions.
It could also help to provide a grace period for completing these tests once the project is already operational, as is the case in other countries.
This could accelerate the commercial operation of the projects. In turn, the way we penalize deviations in dispatched renewable energy plants should be made more flexible. We believe there is still room to find a middle ground. The sector welcomed the draft establishing maximum power and dispersion limits for the regulation of collective self-generators and distributed generators. What feedback do you expect? We have been receiving very positive feedback through various channels, and we believe it is indeed a signal of public policy for the development and widespread adoption of energy communities. We have been working since last year to define limits that can increase the likelihood of interest in and entry of community projects. The goal is not to create bottlenecks but rather to provide maximum flexibility to promote this activity.
We believe the 5 MW limit covers a vast array of initiatives. We're trying to simplify it as much as possible to encourage a surge of these kinds of solutions. Do you think the government's goal of reaching 6 GW of renewables will be achieved? It's an ambitious plan, and it's difficult to say for sure whether it will be met.
However, the 2 GW renewable energy target is almost met: we have 750 MW in commercial operation and 1.8 GW in the testing phase, injecting energy into the system at various levels. Colombia is already overcoming the initial learning curve and is moving towards more refined and efficient processes. Hopefully, we can achieve that 6 GW goal.
By Energía Estratégica
By Emilia Lardizabal
By Ailén Pedrotti
