Financiers looking to bankroll Colombia's offshore wind foray

Colombia's fledgling offshore wind power segment is drawing interest from both private and public lenders as the Andean nation prepares for a groundbreaking auction of temporary occupation permits off its Caribbean coast.

Possible financiers for projects include commercial lenders, national development banks and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, an industry expert told BNamericas. 

"The World Bank has been heavily involved in the discussions in Colombia so far and provided a lot of support to the government," Mark Leybourne, the co-founder of Britain's Dyna Energy, said in a telephone interview. "The private sector side of the World Bank is definitely interested and they are looking to invest in other offshore projects globally as well."

Leybourne pointed out that the World Bank supported the creation of Colombia's offshore wind energy roadmap, published in 2022. 

The 217-page document, authored by London-based firm Renewables Consulting Group, said Colombia had the potential for 50GW of marine wind capacity, forecasting the completion of developments totaling 9GW by 2050. 

According to Leybourne, the appetite for bankrolling the nascent sector in Colombia extended to the IDB and private banks. 

"In Europe most often deals are well oversubscribed," he said. "It's large, long-term infrastructure capital that's providing pretty stable returns. It's very attractive for lenders.

"So whilst Colombia is a different opportunity for them, there's almost certainly going to be appetite and interest from international lenders and local lenders as well. And I think that there has to be a bit of a mixture between local and international lenders, supported by the IFIs [international financial institutions]. And in some markets around the world we've also seen the export credit agencies play a really strong role in supporting the projects too."

Dyna Energy leads the OSW Colombia consortium – alongside Seynekun and Enterprize Energy – that prequalified for Colombia's auction of offshore wind acreage, the first such process in Latin America. 

The temporary occupation permits awarded in the auction will have a duration of eight years and, at the request of the holders, may be converted into 30-year concessions with the possibility of a 15-year extension.