Colombian towns evacuated as EPM readies Hidroituango startup

An estimated 5,000 people were asked to evacuate their homes on Tuesday as part of an emergency drill as Colombian utility EPM prepares to start generating electricity at its controversial Hidroituango power plant. 

The simulation exercise involved communities in the municipalities of Ituango, Briceño, Valdivia and Tarazá, in Colombia's northwestern Antioquia department.

EPM said the procedure was jointly coordinated by the Antioquia risk management body, Dagran, and the risk management committees of the four municipalities. 

It came a day after it was revealed EPM requested an extension to its end-November deadline to begin operations from the plant's first two turbines. 

In a letter sent to power regulator Creg and seen by BNamericas, EPM said it needed more time to meet requests from the mines and energy ministry, the government's risk management unit and environmental regulator ANLA related to socio-environmental guarantees. 

Under firm energy obligations signed with Creg, EPM must be ready to start generating electricity from the plant's first two turbines by November 30. A failure to do so would leave the company facing multimillion-dollar fines.  

Originally slated to begin operating in 2018, Hidroituango has been delayed by a series of construction problems. The 2.4GW facility is expected to provide 17% of Colombia's electricity when completed.