Colombia will deploy 1.6 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy in 2024. Colombia installed 1.6 GW of solar energy in 2024, bringing its total capacity to 1.87 GW by the end of the year. The industrial group Ser Colombia says that 33 large-scale projects representing 1,410 MW were added to the grid.
Colombia is advancing in the energy transition with the consolidation of solar energy in its electrical matrix. According to Adrián Correa, director of the Mining-Energy Planning Unit (Upme) of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, more than two gigawatts of the total 20 gigawatts of installed capacity in the country come from solar sources.
“A little more than 10% of the energy that we Colombians consume is already generated by the sun in the hours around midday,” Correa explained on Monday in La Agenda, a meeting of government officials with regional journalists and alternative media organized by the Secretariat for Communications and Press of the Presidency of the Republic. According to the official, during the weekends, the percentage of consumption increases to between 13% and 14%.
The director of the Upme highlighted the Misión Transmisión strategy, designed to improve the provision of electric service in various regions of the country. One of the emblematic cases is that of the department of Chocó. “For the first time in history, a transmission project was approved and adopted by the Ministry for Chocó. Ensuring a safe and stable electric supply will allow the promotion of productive projects that transform the region,” Correa said.
He also mentioned similar projects in Nariño, especially in the area of ??Tumaco, where power fluctuations and outages are constant.
Caribbean: 30 solar projects approved
?In the Caribbean, a region historically affected by deficiencies in the electric service, eight new works of the national transmission system have been awarded, half of them in this area.
“We closed the year with 19 approved projects thanks to Misión Transmisión, becoming the year with the most approved works in the history of the national transmission system,” Correa said. In addition, he reported that there are 30 approved solar projects in the Atlantic, in different stages of development.
Another key advance in the expansion of renewable energy in Colombia is the energy communities program, which promotes the installation of solar panels on the roofs of homes, hospitals, schools and sports complexes.
“This is the beginning of a paradigm shift in the provision of electric power service in Colombia. We are not only looking to expand access, but also to democratize the ownership of energy,” Correa explained.
Jessica Arias, deputy director of Demand at Upme, revealed that, in the last two years, tax exemptions have facilitated investments of nearly 7 billion pesos, of which 30% has been allocated to energy efficiency and between 60% and 70% to renewable sources.
“Most of these investments correspond to small-scale projects, such as solar roofs on homes or residential buildings organized by their own inhabitants,” said Arias.
With these initiatives, the country is moving forward in its objective of consolidating a more sustainable, decentralized and accessible energy model for all.
