Can Colombia Fast-Track Its Way to a Cleaner Power Grid?

Energy & Natural Resources attorney José Vicente Zapata was featured in The Dialogue's Energy Advisor commenting on a proposal to exempt some renewable energy projects from environmental and social permitting processes in Colombia. Edwin Palma, the country's Energy and Mines Minister, cited the high number of stalled wind and solar energy projects in announcing the plan. Mr. Zapata explained that much of bottleneck arises at the regional level, where delays in prior public consultations as part of environmental impact assessments bog down the process. As a result, the government is exploring options for requiring environmental licenses only for projects of certain sizes, which could help more projects become operational and augment the country's clean power capacity. Even with these changes, Mr. Zapata predicted Colombia will not meet its clean energy goals because of the challenges that remain.

"It is very unlikely that Colombia will be carbon-free by 2030, given the many regulatory and operational hurdles that currently exist. The need for additional energy, combined with overall reduced exploration and production, will also negatively affect this goal," he added.

READ: Can Colombia Fast-Track Its Way to a Cleaner Power Grid? (Article found on page 4)