Through resolutions 41307 and 41314 of 2018, the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Colombia (Minminas) officially convened the first long-term electric power auction, which will be held on February 26. of 2019 and seeks to diversify, complement and boost the competitiveness of the energy matrix, making it more resilient to climate variability, contributing to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and guaranteeing the country’s energy security.
This process will award 1,183,000 megawatt-hours per year through long-term annual average energy contracts with a term of 12 years. The start date of the obligations of the generation projects that will be assigned will be December 1, 2021.
“The National Government is boosting the competitiveness of the country’s energy matrix, promoting greater electricity generation from non-conventional renewable energy sources.” Our goal in these four years is to increase the installed capacity equivalent to what Cali and Medellín need together, “said Diego Mesa, Vice Minister of Energy.
The first long-term energy auction in Colombia will only take into account energy generation projects whose initial date of operation is after December 31, 2017, which will be evaluated based on four criteria: resilience, complementarity of resources, regional energy security and reduction of emissions from CO2
The Ministry of Mines and Energy published the minutes of the contract on January 4, 2019, while the UPME Mining and Energy Planning Unit, entity responsible for administering the mechanism, disclosed the specifications and specific conditions for the auction on the same date.
