AES Gener blazing NCRE trail in Colombia

Three months after Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol awarded AES Chivor a contract to build a 20MW solar park, construction has begun on the project in Meta department, which is the NOC's first utility-scale initiative based on this NCRE.

Ricardo Falú, CEO of AES Gener, which controls Chivor, made the announcement during Gener's fourth quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

"We believe this partnership with Ecopetrol is the first step for developing a long-term relationship with them. The project has a high potential for tenor extension and is the first of 140MW that Ecopetrol is considering," said Falú, who expects plant operations to begin in October.

The executive also highlighted Gener's acquisition of five wind projects in Colombia for a combined 648MW that are known collectively as Jemeiwaa Ka'i.

The planned wind farms are Apotolorru (75MW), Carrizal (95MW), Casa Eléctrica (180MW), Irraipa (99MW) and Jotomana (99MW), and will be built in the Alta Guajira region where wind conditions would allow for a capacity factor of 54%

"We have secured warranty capacity for 549MW out of the 1,400MW transmission line that will connect La Guajira with central Colombia in 2022," he added.

CHILE

At home, the CEO said that Gener has a pipeline that tops 3,900MW, with 561MW under construction, 290MW ready to build in 2019 and 3,127MW under development.

The 531MW Alto Maipo hydro leads the projects under construction, with overall completion at 75% and 51km of 75km of tunnels complete, ahead of the 2H20 expected commercial operation date.

Work on a 10MW battery pilot as part of a project to turn run-of-the-river hydros into "virtual reservoirs" is also underway.

Meanwhile, the ready to build pipeline consists of Andes Solar II (80MW) and wind projects Campo Lindo (80MW), Los Olmos (90MW) and Mesamavida (40MW).

Additional and complementary information on Gener's plans and projects are available in the company's 4Q18 earnings report.

AES CORPORATION

South America accounts for 25% of AES Corporation's 1,305MW of wind, solar and energy storage capacity under construction, the majority of which will come online this year, according to AES president and CEO Andrés Gluski's 4Q18 and full-year 2018 financial review, also held on Wednesday.

For a further look at AES's footprint in the region that includes Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic, go to the group's Form 10-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pictured: Rendering of planned Ecopetrol solar park (SOURCE: Ecopetrol)