Colombian state oil giant eyes bid in country’s first offshore wind auction
World Bank has tipped Colombia and its wind-rich Caribbean coast as one of the most promising offshore wind markets
Colombia’s national oil and gas company is reportedly eyeing making a bid in the country’s first-ever offshore wind auction, amid a push from President Gustavo Petro to bring more renewables online.
Bidders have until 21 June to register for offshore wind seabed tender, which will be the first in South America.
The tender is for an area off Colombia’s Caribbean coast, with the cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena providing demand for power generated.
Colombia has some optimum locations for offshore wind, with average speeds of 8-12 metres per second on the northern Caribbean coast.
The World Bank has tipped Colombia as one of the most promising yet-to-be-developed offshore wind markets, with 31GW fixed bottom and 78GW floating wind potential.
President Petro, Colombia's first left-wing leader, has been pushing to move the country away from fossil fuels.
Colombia has next to no wind or solar power plants to date, although does generate some clean energy through hydropower and biofuels. Ecopetrol has also been looking to branch out into the renewables sector.
Private bidders in the country’s maiden offshore wind auction must partner with public or mixed-ownership company like Ecopetrol.
But public or mixed-ownership companies must also partner with a company that has technical experience.
“Participating in the offshore wind auction will allow us to access reliable renewable energy to leverage the entry of green hydrogen projects and their derivatives,” said Ecopetrol.
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