Colombia will inaugurate a wind power facility at the end of the month, bolstering the country’s sustainable energy generating matrix. It is the Guajira 1 wind farm, a project being constructed by Isagen, that will be the first to provide this sort of electric current to the National Interconnected System (SIN).
“The complex is already complete, and it is the country’s first wind power park that will provide electricity.” “The wind turbine testing stages have begun, and their operation is scheduled for the last week of January,” said Mines and Energy Minister Diego Mesa, emphasizing that the country “continues to make steady progress in the energy transition and the incorporation of renewable energies, such as solar and wind.”
The Guajira 1 wind farm will have a capacity of 20 megawatts (MW), and each wind turbine will have a capacity of 2 MW, with blades that are 49 meters long and have a diameter of over 100 meters. “Guajira 1 may already be at the commercial stage within one to two months,” said an expert.
Camilo Marulanda, president of Isagen, stated, “We are working on a growth strategy in renewable technologies, with an internal portfolio that has the potential to surpass 1,500 MW in unconventional clean power generation with wind farms in La Guajira.” This endeavor is part of a package of four wind farms that will commence construction or go into service before September of this year.
In addition to Guajira 1, there are the Alpha and Beta complexes developed by EDPR, which will be 25 times larger in size than the one developed by Isagen, because only its installed capacity will be 504 MW, not including the wind turbines, which will have an installed capacity of 5.6MW and blades measuring 80 meters, allowing a diameter length of 160 meters.
“This project, which will consist of 90 wind turbines between the two parks, will begin assembly before the end of the second quarter,” Minister Mesa stated. The official emphasized that the start-up of these two projects will be dependent on the progress of the assembly of the transmission line “that ISA is now developing.”
In the same vein, the multinational EDPR emphasized that “the projects were remunerated by the reliability of the electrical system, in addition to the power they provide.” “Now, EDPR will seek long-term power purchase agreements with third parties (known as PPAs) to sell the electricity produced by both farms,” the multinational adds in a statement.
The third wind farm, which will also be located in this area of the country, is the second phase of Guajira 1, which will begin construction in March and will go into operation at the beginning of the third quarter, and which will form part of the Wesp 1 complex, with a total installed capacity of 35 MW. The four wind farms will be joined to three solar plants and a thermoelectric infrastructure, totaling more than 1,000 MW of installed capacity for the country.
