In the most recent analysis of the medium-term electricity situation, XM showed a increase in national energy demand which, on occasions, has exceeded the values predicted by Upme in its October 2022 publication.
This has given rise to the fact that in some areas of the country the transmission infrastructure is operated close to the safety limits of the network and that, given the chargeability of the equipment used or the occurrence of failures, the probability that it cannot fully meet user demand is high.
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XM warns that if the demand growth momentum continues, if the transmission and distribution works are not started and new equipment is not defined to strengthen the network, the National Interconnected System would be less resilient.
Due to the failures to which the national red is exposed, Power outages may be necessary in some areas of the country during demand peaks to maintain the levels of security and reliability in the provision of the service in the national territory.
Power outages may be necessary in some areas of the country during peak demand
XM assures that it has been giving the respective signals to the National Government and also to the market agents about the existence of risk conditions for the safe attention of the demand in some parts of La Guajira, César, Magdalena, Córdoba, Sucre and Bolívar due to infrastructure overloads and low voltages in normal conditions or due to failures in network equipment.
This same condition occurs with the network that meets the demand of the department of Chocó, since It is highly vulnerable to failures.giving rise to continuous disconnections of demand.
“Given the presence of these situations, at XM we have taken actions with the network operators that have sometimes allowed us to reduce the unmet demand for minimize the high impact on the regions mentioned above, actions that, given the depletion of the network and the growth in demand, are insufficient,” says Jaime Alejandro Zapata, manager of the National Dispatch Center at XM.
The situation on the Atlantic Coast is especially delicate because for several years there is a general exhaustion in the transmission capacity of the networkaccording to XM.
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The equipment operates very close to or above the maximum operating limits
This means that the equipment is operating very close to or above the maximum operating limits and has led to about 61 percent of the country’s total unmet demand will occur in this areaboth due to scheduled causes (maintenance to the network) and unscheduled (failures in the transport infrastructure).
In addition, this region has 74 percent of the special protection schemes that have been implemented in the country for the detection of particularly unwanted and unusual system conditions.
These schemes allow the networks to operate making greater use of their capacity and, in the event of failures, cause punctual unattended demands to minimize the impact of failure.
This situation adds to Steady increase in demand above the national averageexacerbated by higher consumption in high temperature conditions.
It would be very complex to provide the service with the usual safety and quality
According to XM, these situations that are occurring, added to the delays in the start-up dates of the transmission and distribution projectshave given rise in recent months to demand disconnections that could worsen in the medium term, that is, in two years.
The depletion of the network in the Caribbean, an area with a high concentration of special loads due to the use of air conditioners and strong refrigeration systems (something natural as a consequence of the high temperatures), has given rise to various situations that have affected the provision of the service in various departments.
Likewise, they motivated XM to come proposing the installation of technologies that strengthen the network and improve quality in meeting user demand, such as synchronous compensators, devices that Upme is analyzing for inclusion in network expansion plans.
“Although, in general terms, Colombia has high levels of security and reliability in meeting the demand for energy, we are concerned about the situation of some territories in which it is identified that, with the expected increases in demand, It would be very complex to provide the service with the usual safety and quality“added Jaime Alejandro Zapata.
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Stringer Files / Reuters
In the short term, the situations in the Caribbean region and the department of Chocó require urgent attention
Old risks of energy rationing are registered in the populations served from the El Banco, La Jagua, San Juan and Guatapurí substations in the area of La Guajira, Cesar, Magdalena.
In addition to San Jacinto, Calamar, Zambrano, El Carmen and El Plato in the Bolívar area, as well as Sincé, Mompox and Magangué in the Córdoba and Sucre area, where the network shows clear signs of exhaustion that the provision of the service arises and where specific operational situations have already arisen that have required the programming of unmet demand.
Although in the short term the situations of the Caribbean region and the department of Chocó require urgent attentionIn the medium term, the situation of the Eastern area is also true, which raises the need for actions in the execution and structuring of projects in the National Transmission System.
This is due to the growth in demand in the North and West of the Sabana de Bogotá and the delay of strategic projects such as the North substation, the Virginia – Nueva Esperanza reinforcement and Transformers 2 and 3 of Nueva Esperanza.
According to XM, this panorama indicates that for the period 2025-2026 said area may not have the network infrastructure necessary to reliably serve and the expected demand for this time horizon is certain.
