What does the Ituango crisis mean for Colombia's power sector?

A blocked tunnel that has caused widespread flooding around Colombia's US$4bn Ituango hydroelectric dam poses no threat to the country's electricity supply, the head of national power generation association Acolgen told BNamericas.

The comments came as project co-owner EPM and authorities ratcheted up efforts to protect local communities from rising floodwaters, a task made more difficult by heavy rainfall.

Last week, state-run utility EPM said the incident would likely postpone the start of electricity generation at the 2.4GW plant, dubbed Hidroituango, which had been slated for December.

According to Acolgen president Angela Montoya, Colombia's grid operator XM and government energy planning unit UPME have mechanisms in place to cope with any delay.

"I refer to data from XM and UPME, which basically shows that there is an excess supply of firm energy for the next three years," Montoya said in a telephone interview.

EPM said its Sierra thermoelectric plant is on standby should Hidroituango's timetable change.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

The governor of Antioquia department, Luis Pérez, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after authorities admitted they did not have the situation under control.

According to local media, the disaster has damaged dozens of homes and destroyed bridges, medical centers and schools. Around 600 people have been left homeless, newspaper El Espectador reported.

EPM said the incident was caused by a "geological fault" that blocked a tunnel used to regulate the flow of water between the dam's spillway and the Cauca river.

As a result, water levels surged upstream from the dam and fell in the river's lower section, according to authorities.

Located around 170km northeast of Medellín, Hidroituango is Colombia's largest infrastructure project in investment terms.

The plant, a joint venture between EPM and Antioquia development agency Idea, is expected to supply over 17% of Colombia's electricity when fully operational in 2021. Local officials say work on the project is around 85% complete.

According to Montoya, it is too early to tell if consumers will face higher prices because of any delays. She added that the incident did not mean the government should abandon hydropower.

"The Ituango situation doesn't have anything to do with the technology," she said. "We cannot say that one energy source is necessarily better or more important than another. All of them have a role to play and complement each other."

'BRUTAL' DAMAGE

On Wednesday, EPM said 10,000 employees and contractors were working to heighten the dam's crest and prevent further flooding.

The company said the reservoir level was rising between 10cm and 20cm an hour as heavy rain continues in the area.

On Friday, the company said it released water into the dam's powerhouse after initial contingency plans failed, risking damage to turbines and other machinery. Oswaldo Ordóñez, a geoscience and environmental expert at Colombia's Universidad Nacional, forecast "brutal" financial consequences as a result of the decision.

CONTROVERSY

On Monday, Colombia's environmental permitting agency ANLA ordered EPM to adopt 17 emergency measures to protect local communities, waterways and wildlife.

One measure demands EPM to coordinate evacuating hundreds of residents in the districts of Orobajo and Barbacoas.

The Ituango dam has drawn controversy since preliminary construction work began at the site in 2011, with opponents expressing concerns about its impact on residents and the environment.

In May, Medellín mayor Federico Gutiérrez vowed to defy a request by European lawmakers to postpone the project on humanitarian grounds.

A letter signed by members of the European parliament called on EPM and Idea to suspend the project to allow the search for bodies of victims of Colombia's civil conflict to continue.

In March, EPM chief executive Jorge Londoño told BNamericas the plant adhered to strict regulatory guidelines and said millions of dollars were being invested in related socio-environmental initiatives.