Colombia built 17 solar plants with a combined capacity of 103.9 MW in the third quarter of this year, according to new figures from the country's grid operator, XM Compañía de Expertos en Mercados.
The new installations have raised Colombia's total installed solar capacity to 1,348 MW, representing about 7% of the country's energy mix. Hydropower remains dominant at 13.2 GW, followed by 6.2 GW of thermal power.
Of the 17 solar projects that were switched on in the third quarter, seven are distributed-generation installations. “That is, they generate electric energy with an installed or nominal generation capacity of less than 1 MW and are installed near the consumption centers,” said XM Compañía de Expertos en Mercados.
Three of the projects are for self-consumption: Palmira II Berry at 4.99 MW in Valle de Cuca, and Milpa San Carlos and Uniminas, each 1.8 MW, in Cundinamarca.
By department, Atlántico added 40.79 MW, Cundinamarca 23.4 MW, Tolima 20.87 MW, Valle del Cauca 14.89 MW, Cesar 1.99 MW, Guajira 0.996 MW, and Nariño 0.96 MW.
Colombia has 14 renewable projects, totaling 605.48 MW, in the initial testing phase. Of these, 573.58 MW are solar and 31.9 MW are wind. The standout is the 370 MW Guayepo project.
Colombia supports large-scale PV through procurement exercises. In April 2023, the National Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME) assigned 7.493 MW of renewable capacity, including 5.774 MW across 147 solar projects.
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