Colombia's Colectora power link faces new licensing snag

Grupo Energía Bogotá's (GEB) troubled Colectora transmission project – a key pillar of Colombia's renewable energy buildout – could suffer further delays amid new licensing hurdles, CEO Juan Ricardo Ortega has warned. 

GEB appeared to secure a major breakthrough last week when licensing authority ANLA issued an environmental permit for the project. 

But Ortega revealed that the entity had rejected six key aspects of the development plan, including the location of two towers – because they are within 100m of a cemetery – and the use of a riverbed to access the project's substation. 

"The rules say that we have 10 business days to present an appeal," Ortega said during the Ceapi Ibero-American congress in Cartagena. 

"We are currently preparing that appeal and the authority will then have 45 business days to respond. If we can correct it with what we are going to propose, we would have the option to start construction in approximately two and a half months."

Ortega warned that a requirement to build a new road instead of utilizing the existing riverbed – which normally floods during Colombia's rainy season – would set the project back indefinitely. 

"We are in an absolutely undetermined scenario because building a road involves prior consultations and the environmental license for the road," he said.

"We are talking about a very uncertain world because our existing proposal is where the communities chose the towers to be."

DELAYS

The 500kV Colectora link, originally slated for completion in 2022, was postponed by a requirement for GEB to complete individual consultations with more than 230 indigenous communities.

The project spans 475km and traverses 14 municipalities in La Guajira and Cesar departments. It is expected to require investment of at least US$174mn.

GEB received an environmental permit for an adjoining connection between the Cuestecitas and La Loma substations in 2023.

When completed, the Colectora line will deliver energy from wind and solar projects totaling more than 2.8GW of installed capacity, according to the mines and energy ministry. 

GEB has said the project's construction is expected to take around two years.