Electricity sector in Colombia
| Data | |
|---|---|
| Electricity coverage (2010) | 87% (total), 93% (urban), 55% (rural); (LAC total average in 2007: 92%) |
| Installed capacity (2015) | 15.5 GW |
| Share of fossil energy | 33% |
| Share of renewable energy | 64% (mostly large hydro) |
| GHG emissions from electricity generation (2003) | 6.5 Mt CO2 |
| Average electricity use (2005) | 828 kWh per capita |
| Distribution losses (2005) | 16%; (LAC average in 2005: 13.6%) |
| Residential consumption (% of total) |
42.2% |
| Industrial consumption (% of total) |
31.8% |
| Average residential tariff (US$/kW·h, 2006) |
0.0979; (LAC average in 2005: 0.115) |
| Average industrial tariff (US$/kW·h, 2006) |
0.0975 (LAC average in 2005: 0.107) |
| Services | |
| Sector unbundling | Yes |
| Share of private sector in generation | 60% |
| Competitive supply to large users | Yes |
| Competitive supply to residential users | Yes (only above 0.5 MW) |
| Institutions | |
| No. of service providers | 66 (generation), 7 (transmission), 61 (distribution) |
| Responsibility for transmission | Transelec |
| Responsibility for regulation | CREG |
| Responsibility for policy-setting | Ministry of Mines and Energy |
| Responsibility for the environment | Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Regional Development |
| Electricity sector law | Yes (1994) |
| Renewable energy law | No |
| CDM transactions related to the electricity sector | 3 registered CDM projects; 107,465 t CO2e annual emissions reductions |
The electricity sector in Colombia is dominated by large hydropower generation (65%) and thermal generation (35%). Despite the country’s large potential in new renewable energy technologies (mainly wind, solar and biomass), this potential has been barely tapped. A 2001 law designed to promote alternative energies lacks certain key provisions to achieve this objective, such as feed-in tariffs, and has had little impact so far. Large hydropower and thermal plants dominate the current expansion plans. The construction of a transmission line with Panama, which will link Colombia with Central America, is underway.
An interesting characteristic of the Colombian electricity sector (as well as of its water sector) is a system of cross-subsidies from users living in areas considered as being relatively affluent, and from users consuming higher amounts of electricity, to those living in areas considered as being poor and to those who use less electricity.
The electricity sector has been unbundled into generation, transmission, distribution and commercialization since sector reforms carried out in 1994. About half the generation capacity is privately owned. Private participation in electricity distribution is much lower
Electricity supply in Colombia relies on the National Interconnected System (SIN) and several isolated local systems in the Non-Interconnected Zones (ZNI). SIN encompasses one third of the territory, giving coverage to 96 percent of the population. The ZNI, which covers the remaining two thirds of the national territory, only serves 4 percent of the population.
Thirty-two large hydroelectric plants and thirty thermal power stations feed electricity into the SIN. On the other hand, the ZNI is mostly served by small diesel generators, many of which are not in good working conditions. At June 2015, installed net effective capacity was 15.5 Gigawatt (GW), with the following share by source:
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