Colombia to hold renewables auction by the end of October

From pv magazine Latam

Colombia‘s Ministry of Mines and Energy has submitted to public consultation until next May 4 the draft resolution defining the country's second auction for large-scale renewable energy projects. The procurement exercise, which was originally planned to be held in the past quarter but then delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis, should now take place before the end of October, the ministry specified.

Projects selected in the auctions will be granted 15-year PPAs and will have to begin delivering power in December 2022.

According to National Mining and Energy Planning (UPME) authority, at the end of March, there were around 153 energy projects with a combined capacity of 7,934 MW and planned commissioning dates between 2021 and 2023. Most of these projects may be entitled to compete in the procurement exercise.

The UPME allocated 2.2 GW of solar and wind power generation capacity in the country’s first renewable energy auction, which was finalized in October 2019. The exercise’s final average price was COP95/kWh ($0.026), and the highest bid reached only COP110.

Projects selected in this auction are entitled to a 15-year PPA and must come into operation by January 1, 2022. Contracts are linked to the Colombian peso and updated based on a producer price index certified by Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics.

According to the latest figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Colombia had an operational installed PV capacity of around 107 MW at the end of 2020.