The possibility that Bogotá and its surroundings face a energy rationing electric It set off alarm bells in recent days in the country’s capital, after former Vice Minister Belizza Ruiz issued this warning due to the delay that mainly two transmission projects present.
The president of Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB), Juan Ricardo Ortega, established that they are Norte and Sogamoso. Although they were awarded more than ten years ago, they have not been able to enter into operation due to the opposition expressed by neighboring communities to its development.
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«These two lines are very delayed as a result of people who believe that blocking the transmission is strategic to protect the view of their farm or the value of their lands. Unfortunately, the private interest ends up blocking the general interest«, he stated.
The non-commissioning of the required projects may jeopardize the distribution of energy to residential and industrial customers
Although the Mining and Energy Planning Unit (Upme) assured that no risk of blackout in the short term In Bogotá, Cundinamarca and Meta, Enel Colombia says that this possibility does exist in the medium term due to the delays that these projects have.
«The non-commissioning of the electrical infrastructure projects that are required can put at risk the distribution of energy to residential and industrial clients that the company serves. Mitigation alternatives have been presented that could be executed in the short term due to the delay of the projects,» he added.
The GEB president stated that this vulnerability will increase once the Bogotá Metro or the RegioTranvía de Occidentebecause power consumption can be increased by up to 15 percent.
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This can generate additional «stress» because Enel’s current power generation would not be enough to meet demand in the future and power will have to be brought in from other regions of the country, such as the Chivor and Sogamoso hydroelectric plants. For this reason, these two transmission lines are required to start operating so that this energy can be transported to the capital of the country.
According to XM’s medium-term analyses, in the event of the failure or maintenance of an additional generation unit to those expected to be outside the area and in the event of a failure of the Bacatá-Nueva Esperanza line, in 2025 -2026 the demand neglect risk could be close to 2 percent of the Central East region.
The companies reiterate that coordination between public and private entities in the sector, environmental authorities and local governments is important to guarantee the timely development of projects in the National Transmission System (STN).
