The Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy is preparing the roadmap for offshore wind energy generation, according to Minister Diego Mesa Puyo.
This roadmap has the support of the World Bank for the formulation of the terms of reference, selection and contracting of the consulting firm. It is known that, in mid 2021, the construction of the plan to be followed began.
For the moment it is known that Renewables Consulting Group is the firm that is developing this study.
According to the Ministry, the first stage consisted of a diagnosis of the current situation through interviews with different companies interested in offshore power generation and related entities such as the Anla, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Dimar, Upme, among others.
It also included a study of scenarios for the incorporation of this new technology in the Colombian matrix and the identification of the role it can play in the country’s energy future. In addition, an analysis on different fronts: financial, permits and procedures, connection and identification of needs, among others.
On the other hand, it is expected that the roadmap will be an input that will help identify the needs and barriers for the development of offshore wind energy in Colombia, as well as propose lines of action to establish a playing field in which these projects can compete.
For this purpose, a review of international cases was also made, such as Denmark and the United Kingdom, which are countries with decades of experience in offshore wind energy generation projects and which have managed different regulatory and institutional schemes.
In addition, taking into account that recently several countries have started to incorporate offshore wind energy in their generation, some examples are Vietnam and the Philippines.
The objective is to understand how other countries have done it, the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the similarities that each market may have with ours, and to identify aspects that may be applicable to the Colombian context, where the construction of electricity generation plants responds to private initiative, explained the Ministry.
The final version of the roadmap is expected to be available early this year, after public comments.
In the meantime and based on a preliminary analysis, it is estimated that Colombia could have a potential of around 50,000 megawatts (MW) for the development of offshore wind projects in several possible areas near the departments of La Guajira, Magdalena, Atlántico and Bolívar.
According to Ministry of Mines estimates, the potential for offshore wind energy generation is almost three times Colombia’s current installed capacity, which is approximately 17.7 gigawatts (GW).
For the Colombian government, this potential is key for the country; besides posing the challenge of delimiting the allocation scheme for the areas and planning the transmission to connect these potential projects to the national interconnected system, so that they can be connected to the national grid.
to the national interconnected system, so that this resource can be better exploited.
The expectation is that offshore wind technology will allow to continue diversifying the generation matrix through new technologies with accessible prices that increase competitiveness.
