How AES aims to propel Colombia's wind power market

AES Colombia is developing wind power projects totaling more than 1GW of installed capacity. 

Development manager Mauricio Posada tells BNamericas why the company is optimistic about wind power in the Andean country despite regulatory challenges, and discusses the firm's hopes of bringing its first wind farms online by 2027, pending the construction of the long-delayed Colectora transmission line.

BNamericas: In 2021, AES Colombia projected to triple its installed capacity by 2030 to reach 3,000MW with investments of more than US$1 billion. Are these plans still in place? What are the next steps to achieve this goal?

Posada: AES Colombia remains committed to providing safe and reliable energy to the country. The goal we set for 2030 to triple our installed capacity is still a target we’re working towards.

However, due to delays in the development of the Línea Colectora, which will transmit the energy from our 1,100MW portfolio of Jemeiwaa Ka'I wind projects in La Guajira to the national interconnected system, we’ve had to adjust the execution schedule. Once all the parks that make up Jemeiwaa Ka'I are in operation, we expect to exceed 2,200MW of installed capacity in the country.

BNamericas: How are the projects in La Guajira progressing? What has been the impact of social resistance to these projects, and are you any closer to finding a solution?

Posada: Currently, the Jemeiwaa Ka'I wind cluster, which consists of six projects, is in the development phase, progressing through the stages of prior consultation and licensing. Of the six wind farms that make up the cluster, four have received connection approval from UPME, and three have an environmental license.

Additionally, as part of the cluster, we have to build an internal transmission line that will transport energy from the parks to the Colectora substation, which will be constructed by Grupo Energía Bogotá. This transmission line received an environmental license at the end of 2023, and we hope that with the progress in constructing this line we’ll also be able to begin building our cluster by 2025.

Regarding the social aspect, we’ve had more than 10 years of relationship-building with the communities surrounding the project, establishing trust and involving them in every phase of the project. In this relationship, we’ve uncovered a positive interest in the project from the communities. However, it’s important to have greater government support to guarantee each of the agreements we build with the communities so that, together, we can achieve the social development we seek with our presence in the territory.

BNamericas: Grupo Energía Bogotá has said that it expects to obtain an environmental license to proceed with the Colectora transmission line in the second half of this year. Are you confident that this will happen? Is the progress of your projects in La Guajira dependent on this license?

Posada: Although the approval of the environmental license for Colectora was announced a few days ago, Grupo Energía Bogotá will file an action against the ANLA because the license was approved but omitted some requirements necessary to proceed with construction. Given this, additional delays are expected for Colectora, potentially pushing back the operational start date of the four parks we have connected to this line to between 2026 and 2027, all subject to progress in constructing Colectora, which is crucial for the development of our parks.

BNamericas: When do you expect the Jemeiwaa Ka'I project to start generating electricity in the best-case scenario, and what is the current progress of the project?

Posada: As mentioned, we’re in the development phase, with three of six parks currently licensed. We believe the parks will begin operations gradually between 2026 and 2028, depending on the progress of Colectora and our own licensing processes for the parks that still lack an environmental license.

BNamericas: We’ve seen that AES Colombia is focusing quite a bit on self-generation solar projects of more than 10MW. Do you see a promising future for this segment in Colombia, and do you have any goals regarding installed capacity or investments in self-generation projects by 2030?

Posada: To date, we have 108MW of installed capacity in self-generation. We believe it’s an important and growing business line, although the strategy is mainly based on creating solar parks that can be included within AES's portfolio as a generator.

BNamericas: Can you tell us a bit about AES Colombia's social commitments and how these initiatives benefiting communities are progressing?

Posada: The vision of social responsibility that we’ve had at AES Colombia, where we operate in Boyacá, Meta, Huila and La Guajira, has allowed us to support community initiatives that help in their development, primarily in productive projects, but always maintaining a function of a partnership where both the community and the company do their part. Under this vision, in 2023, AES Colombia developed social programs in Boyacá, Meta, Huila, and La Guajira, where it has operations, benefiting more than 30,000 people and achieving an investment of over 10 billion pesos [US$2.5mn].

Some of these programs included agricultural production projects in Boyacá, the entrepreneurship, self-management, and associativity program in Aipe, and the Ruta del Agua, which supplies over 960,000 liters of water to Wayúu communities in La Guajira, among others.

BNamericas: The energy storage segment seems to be advancing at a slow pace in Colombia compared to some other countries in the region. What are the prospects for battery energy storage in Colombia, and can you tell us a bit about AES Colombia's projects in this segment?

Posada: AES, together with Siemens, founded Fluence Energy, a global leader in storage systems. In Colombia, we’re working with our industrial clients to provide tailored solutions for their processes, and we’re closely monitoring new bidding processes launched by the mining energy planning unit to implement a storage system to support the national interconnected system.