Colombia’s first solar and wind power auction: 1298GW awarded to 3 solar farms and 5 onshore wind plants

After almost two years of planning and one failed attempt, Colombia has successfully had its first renewables auction with long-term PPAs secured. Considering Colombia’s market with great potential, many international players, such as Acciona, Canadian Solar, Enel Green Power, EDFR, Solarpack and Trina Solar all showed interest in participating.
In this auction, seven electricity generators secured 15-year PPAs for 1298 MW of new wind and solar capacity spread over three solar and five onshore wind projects, which are planned to be commissioned by January 1, 2022.
Awarded projects in the auction

Trina Solar – San Felipe PV (90MW)

Trina Solar – Cartago PV (99MW)

Trina Solar – El Campano PV (N/A)

EDPR – Alpha wind farm (212MW)

EDPR – Beta Wind Farm (280MW)

JEMEIWAA KA'I – Casa Electrica wind farm (180MW)

Empresa de Energia del Pacifico (Celsia) – Eolico Camelia & Eolico Acacia 2 (N/A)

The average price of the contracts turned out to be COP 95.65/kWh (0.025 €/kWh), about COP 50/kWh (0.013 €/ kWh) cheaper that the usual price for bilateral supply contracts in Colombia. It also came in far lower than the maximum average tariffs allowed by the authority, namely COP 160/ kWh (0.04 €/kWh).
Out of 23 off-takers that bided in this renewable auction, 22 were picked to buy the generated power at prices far lower than the market rate

22 off-takers selected in the auction:

Electrificadora del Huila

Codensa

Ruitoque

Electrificadora del Caribe

Centrales Eléctricas de Narino

Electrificadora del Caqueta

Empresa de Energía del Putumayo

Empresas Municipales de Cali E.I.C.E.

Empresas Públicas de Medellin

Electrificadora de Santander

Empresa de Energía del Quindio

Empresa de Energía de Pereira

Centrales Eléctricas del Norte de Santander

Empresa de Energía de Boyaca

Electrificadora del Meta

Profesionales en Energía

Central Hidroeléctrica de Caldas

Celsia Tolima

Empresa de Energía del Pacífico

Compañía de Electricidad de Tulua

Ecopetrol Energía

Vatia

This auction represents a significant step in Colombia's plan to diversify its power supply. It aims to enable the country to increase its installed renewable energy capacity from around 50 MW currently to 2.2 GW in 2022, for Colombia to have an increasingly clean, modern, sustainable and environmentally responsible matrix.