Colombia’s biggest wind power portfolio of 648 MW to be purchased by AES Colombia after DNV GL’s review

DNV GL, the world’s largest independent energy advisory and certification body, today announced that it acted as a technical advisor to the energy company AES Colombia during its planned purchase of the Jemeiwaa Kai portfolio of wind power projects. DNV GL carried out an independent analysis of the La Guajira wind farms wind and power generation regime.

Currently owned by Colwind SA, the Jemeiwaa Kai complex consists of 5 wind farms: Apotolorru, Carrizal, Casa Eléctrica, Irraipa and Jotomana. The five wind farms have a combined power output of almost 650 megawatts (MW). Currently in the development phase, the farms are candidates to take part in Colombia’s next round of energy auctions.

Colombia is currently getting ready for its second renewable energy auction, which will take place in the second half of this year. In the first round, held in February, no projects won as they could not fulfil the indicators set by the authorities. The Colombian authorities have proposed a new model for the second round that features seven changes. These changes include a 12-year PPA contract term, setting hourly blocks for the PPAs instead of yearly production and changing the minimum capacity for projects from 10 MW to 5 MW. This auction is a key component in efforts to achieve Colombia’s goal of 1,500 MW from non-conventional renewable energy sources by 2022.

“This will be the biggest wind project in the country, which will make us the leader in renewable power generation in the upcoming years. Our goal is to develop, in Colombia, the most competitive and sustainable portfolio in the entire energy sector,” said Federico Echavarría, General Manager of AES Colombia.

The methodology used by DNV GL to assess the power generation of wind farm projects is considered a global benchmark. DNV GL’s experts assisted AES Colombia in analysing the wind energy potential of the projects and in evaluating the performance and production of various manufacturers and models of wind turbines. The complete wind data analysed were processed and validated according to the standards stipulated in DNV GL’s quality control process. For modelling the wind flow, DNV GL’s team used Virtual Met Data (VMD) in their model. DNV GL has a mesoscale wind map for the La Guajira region with a resolution of 2 kilometres, which has served as a guide and support for both this and other projects in the area.

“This transaction is yet another example of the attractiveness of the Colombian wind market that has been growing over the past few years. The technical support DNV GL provides to AES Colombia in its development and purchase of wind farm projects is the strong base needed to invest in newer markets, including Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Chile and, in this case, Colombia. It also strengthens the presence and local awareness of both companies in a country that is on the radar of all players in the electricity sector in general and in the renewable energy industry in particular,” commented Andreas Schröter, Executive Vice President Latin America and Central Europe.  Government bodies, including MinMinas, UPME and CNO, are firmly committed to increasing the installed renewable power capacity in Colombia.