All companies that submitted applications to participate in Colombia’s first offshore wind tender have been pre-qualified, meeting legal, financial, and technical requirements.
The announcement was made on 9 December by Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH).
Among the companies included in the preliminary list of qualified bidders are energy giants from Belgium, the UK, Spain, and China, alongside Colombia’s Ecopetrol and Celsia.
On the list are Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and BlueFloat Energy , who revealed their plans in the country earlier, as well as China Three Gorges Corporation, Powerchina, and UK-based Dyna Energy, Ecopetrol and Celsia, and Belgian offshore construction specialists DEME and Jan De Nul.
“This is a decisive moment for the energy transformation of Colombia. The participation of these world-class companies demonstrates the confidence in our country and the extraordinary potential of our offshore wind resources,” said Orlando Velandia Sepúlveda , president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency.
In its first offshore wind tender, the Colombian government aims to allocate areas where between 1 GW and 3 GW of offshore wind capacity can be installed. The offshore wind projects under the first round are planned to be built mainly in shallow and deep water maritime areas of the departments of Atlántico, Bolívar, southern Magdalena, and northern Sucre.
In May 2022, Colombia unveiled its Offshore Wind Energy Roadmap, which projects the country’s potential to install nearly 50 GW of offshore wind capacity across over 12,000 square kilometres designated for offshore wind development. Of this capacity, approximately 27 GW is considered optimal for bottom-fixed foundations, while 21 GW is suited for floating foundations.
At the end of last year, Swedish engineering and consultancy company, AFRY, revealed that it would support the Colombian government in identifying an offtake mechanism for the commercialisation of offshore wind energy in the country.
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