(PV Magazine, Emiliano Bellini, 5.Nov.2018) — Colombia’s national mining and energy planning unit UPME has announced in a circular it will postpone the final bidding rules for the country’s first auction for large-scale renewable energy projects.
The authority said that it will provide an updated schedule of the auction in an upcoming circular, without providing further details. Meanwhile, local newspaper La República has reported that UPME’s director, Ricardo Ramírez, and the vice-minister of energy and mines, Diego Mesa, said during a conference that the auction will not be held on January 2, as initially planned, and that it may be held at a later date in the first quarter of 2019.
According to them, the postponement of the auction was made at request of all interested investors and developers, after a meeting they held with the Colombian government.
Through the technology-neutral auction, which is expected to assign between 1 GW and 1.5 GW of renewable energy capacity, the Colombian authorities will select solar, wind and biomass projects with a capacity of over 10 MW. Selected developers will be awarded 10-year PPAs.
Colombia is currently turning to solar and renewables in order to diversify its electricity mix, which is largely dependent on hydropower. In March, the government published the Decreto 348 del 1 de marzo de 2017, a new legislation to support the installation of small and medium-sized renewable energy and solar power generators across the country.
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