The Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy has published the roadmap for the deployment of offshore wind energy in Colombia which outlines a plan to promote the development of offshore wind energy projects in Colombia.
The Roadmap provides a series of recommendations on policy formulation, planning, and development of Offshore Wind Energy projects. Based on the above, it proposes two possible scenarios for the deployment of Offshore Wind Energy projects and sets out a series of recommendations for the implementation of these scenarios:
- Low scenario: This scenario establishes that the development of the industry will be without incentives and without government intervention. This means that the industry of Offshore Wind Energy is developed and purchased in specific situations, on an individual basis in smaller projects (e.g. <500MW), implying that the growth of the renewable energy industry will originate from other technologies.
- High scenario: This scenario establishes that the development of the industry will be accelerated as long as the government implements the recommendations of the Roadmap. This means that the development of the industry will be on a commercial scale (including projects at the 1 GW level) by means of tenders or technology-specific competitive processes with incentives and government intervention.
The roadmap provides thirty-five technical implementation recommendations, so that Colombia can successfully develop the Offshore Wind Energy industry. Additionally, the Roadmap highlights environmental aspects related to the planning, study and execution of this type of projects in relation to the actual environmental regulatory framework
The Roadmap was designed and prepared by The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG), a consultant selected by the World Bank, as part of its global initiative to promote wind energy worldwide.