Colombia launches second renewables auction

Projects not exceeding 5 MW in size will be entitled to participate in the procurement exercise. Selected developers will be granted a 15-year PPA and will have to start commercial operation on January 1, 2023.

Colombia‘s Ministry of Mines and Energy has launched, this week, the country’s second auction for large scale renewable energy projects. The procurement exercise was originally planned to be held in the first quarter of this year but was then delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Projects not exceeding 5 MW in size will be entitled to participate in the procurement exercise. Selected developers will be granted a 15-year PPA and will have to start commercial operation on January 1, 2023.

In the country’s first renewable energy auction, which was finalized in October 2019, the National Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME) allocated 2.2 GW of solar and wind power generation capacity. The exercise’s final average price was COP95/kWh ($0.026), and the highest bid reached only COP110 ($0.03).

Projects selected in this auction must come into operation on January 1, 2023. Contracts are linked to the Colombian peso and updated based on a producer price index certified by Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics.

According to the latest figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Colombia had an operational installed PV capacity of around 107 MW at the end of 2020.

From: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2021/06/15/colombia-launches-second-renewables-auction/