The board of directors of Enel Colombia authorized the “indefinite” suspension of the execution of the Windpeshi wind project, which its subsidiary Enel Green Power had been developing for several years in the department of La Guajira.
In addition, it authorized that all acts and documents necessary for this purpose be carried out, executed and signed, “seeking the protection of the company’s value and evaluate and analyze the project and/or turbine sale scenarios and equipment acquired for the same”.
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According to the company, this decision was made before the impossibility of guaranteeing the construction rhythms of the projectdue to the constant paths of fact and high expectations that exceed the framework of action of the organization.
This phase of indefinite suspension means, mainly, stopping construction work and maintaining only those that are strictly necessary in order to comply with social and environmental commitments.
At the beginning of May, Enel Green Power had assured that the wind farm registered significant cost overruns that could compromise the viability of the project due to different situations beyond the control of the company, such as multiple early blockades by some communities that did not allow to maintain a continuous rhythm in the construction works.
Only between 2021 and 2022the works were stopped for about 50 percent of the working days; and so far in 2023, the figure rose to 60 percent.
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“This decision, which not only hurts us as a company, but as citizens who read the energy transition with great enthusiasm and responsibility, was made after carrying out rigorous analyzes and feasibility studies, which concluded that it is not possible to bet on the company continue with the construction of Windpeshi”, affirmed Eugenio Calderón, manager of Enel Green Power in Colombia and Central America.
The decision of Enel’s board of directors comes a few days after the Ministry of Mines and Energy will announce that the national government intervention and the agreement with neighboring communities had allowed the construction of the wind farm to be reactivated.
Eugenio Calderón also stated that “projects have to be sustainable not only from a social point of view, but also from an economic point of view, and their success depends on joint work between companies, institutions and communities.” And he added: “We will continue to dialogue with communities and interest groups to address the implications of this decision.”
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Windpeshi is a 205-megawatt installed capacity wind farm that in 2019 won Reliability Charge allocations, in order to offer energy in critical hydrology conditions, such as when a storm arrives. phenomenon of the childso that users do not have to face rationing.
The project had a construction progress of more than 35 percent and the company projected its entry into operation for the second half of 2024. This means that it will have a delay of more than two years with respect to the first date scheduled for its entry into commercial operation, which was December 2022.
Although Windpeshi is suspended, Enel Green Power will continue to build about 800 megawatts of non-conventional renewable energy in the departments of Cesar, Magdalena and Atlántico, which represent an investment of more than 2.5 trillion pesos.
This portfolio is made up of the La Loma solar parks, the El Paso expansion, Guayepo I & II and Fundación, one of the 11 projects awarded in the last long-term contract auction.
