Enlaza, a subsidiary of Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB), closed 100 percent of the prior consultations for its Colectora project, with 235 ethnic communities present in the territories to register this electric power transmission line.
With this milestone, the project has the green light to begin the licensing process before the Environmental Licensing Authority (Anla), in order to obtain permission to begin construction of the Colectora – Cuestecitas stretch and Inject wind and solar energy generated in La Guajira into the national grid.
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It is a significant number of prior consultations, one of the largest associated with the energy sector in Colombia
“It is a significant number of previous consultations, one of the largest associated with the energy sector in Colombia, given the magnitude of the process, which must simultaneously consider factors of cultural diversity, environmental biodiversity and the very extension of the project. What today allows us all to have clear and stable rules of the game,” said Fredy Zuleta, general manager of Enlaza.
The project Collector was awarded in February 2018 and, after five years, it finally manages to close this stage of prior consultations. Once it enters into operation, in mid-2025, the wind and solar energy that will be generated in the north of the country can be incorporated into the National Interconnected System (SIN).
This is the energy generated in seven wind farms that are currently being built in La Guajira, which represents 10 percent of the demand for this public service for the country.
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We will make a total social investment in both sections of more than 40,000 million pesos
The Collector project at 500 kilovolts, the highest voltage level in Colombia, It is a 475 kilometer line that passes through 10 municipalities in La Guajira and four in CesarTherefore, it has been divided into two sections: Colectora-Cuestecitas, 228 kilometers long, and Cuestecitas-La Loma, 247 kilometers long.
The construction phase will soon begin in the Cuestecitas-La Loma section, where the process of 12 prior consultations was carried out with the peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Yukpa peoples, and the Afro-Colombian community councils located in La Guajira. and Caesar.
“Hand in hand with the communities we will do in both sections a total social investment of more than 40,000 million pesosthat we will see reflected in social, educational, recreational initiatives, beautification of community spaces and promotion of local entrepreneurship, agriculture and the cultural rescue and regional memory and customs”, said Fredy Zuleta.
