Colombia: how to unleash the potential of renewable energies

For Colombia to develop its potential in the field of renewable energies, it is essential to establish a regulatory framework that accompanies and promotes both public and private investments. 

In this respect, multilateral organizations such as CAF may help to provide security and support to private investors while at the same time, develop innovative financial models that minimize risks. 

These are some of the conclusions of the event Mitos y Desafíos de las Energías Renovables, (Myths and Challenges of Renewable Energies), organized by the World Energy Council with the support of the Ministry of Mining and Energy and the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation of Colombia, APC-Colombia, and the participation of CAF. 

With respect to Latin America, the region has an abundance of renewable water, wind-powered, solar, and geothermal energy resources, and according to the presentations in the event, it is essential to promote investments to take advantage of this great potential. 

These are the main conclusions of the event with respect to renewable energies:  

• They are not expensive: experts provided recent examples of investments that have been carried out in countries of the region, showing that the production of these energies is increasingly more profitable, such as the recent wind-powered energy tender in Peru, which reached a record in competitive prices.
• They contribute to the reliability of the supply: the  variability of the resources has created diverse myths and disincentives to investments, but recent examples, such as Chile, show that it is possible to overcome an electricty crisis with the help of renewable sources, showing that the contrary is true. 
• They are easy to operate: In some cases, renewable energies are easier to operate than the traditional sources, An example is Uruguay, where the implementation of wind-powered energy reduced the dependence on hydroelectricity, obtaining surpluses of electricity generation.