Colombia facing gas shortages in December, says GEB

Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB) president Juan Ricardo Ortega has warned that Colombia must take urgent action to avoid imminent gas and electricity shortages. 

He revealed that the company faces a gas shortfall of 5Mf3/d (million cubic feet a day) by year end amid soaring demand and rapidly diminishing supply.

"We're currently facing a situation in which we don't have the gas needed for December," Ortega said during an energy forum in Bogotá. "Without these five million cubic feet per day, operating the gas compressors will be impossible."

He predicted the scarcity of gas would become "severe" by 2026, contributing to an overall energy deficit of 55%. 

Data published by natural gas market administrator BMC shows that Colombia's deficit of the fossil fuel will reach 76.5BBTU/d (billion British thermal units a day) in 2025 and 190BBTU/d in 2026.

The situation has been exacerbated by an alarming decline in gas reserves, which fell to 2.37Tf3 (trillion cubic feet) at the end of 2023 from 2.82Tf3/d a year earlier. 

The crisis is arguably even more acute in the electric power segment amid severe delays to renewable energy projects, transmission bottlenecks and a lack of opportunities for thermoelectric generators. 

According to national power generators' association Andeg, Colombia's firm energy deficit could represent 4-6% of total demand by 2027 or 2028. The entity estimates the demand-supply gap to be around 4-5TWh a year, amounting to an installed capacity shortfall of up to 2,000MW.

"Each decision made today will be critical for the future," Ortega said. "The necessity for both immediate and long-term strategies to secure Colombia's energy supply and stabilize the sector is clear, as the country faces a multifaceted crisis requiring coordinated and effective intervention," he added. 

A report published by renewable energy association SER Colombia in January revealed that almost half of the country's wind and solar power projects due online in the next two years were running behind schedule.