With the participation of citizens and businesses, social dialogue for the Just Energy Transition in Colombia advances

Minenergy Statement

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

MinEnergy. Bogotá, January 18, 2023. The Ministry of Mines and Energy held the first social dialogue of 2023, the second of a national nature, which is carried out for the construction of the roadmap for the Just Energy Transition in Colombia.

In the event that took place this Monday at the ANH facilities in Bogotá, and in which leaders and businessmen from the hydrocarbon sector participated, the aim was to discuss and gather information on the energy transition projects that companies in the sector are carrying out or planning. , identify gaps in the path of transition and promote energy communities in the country.

In five work tables, the attendees focused their proposals on projects linked to the promotion of the energy transition in Colombia and initiatives to reduce emissions.

Common concerns of the sector include the inter-institutional articulation in the national government, which is necessary to advance energy projects in an expeditious manner, and complying with the regulation on socio-environmental and technical matters. They discussed the need to improve the national energy infrastructure, which includes power transmission lines and polyducts, among others, as well as ports and highways. The evaluation of tax incentives for renewable energy projects was also discussed. The important role of gas in the Just Energy Transition was highlighted.

Regarding energy communities, the leaders agreed to highlight their importance and stressed the need to structure a financing source or mechanism from the Government to promote this type of project, with microgrids and the creation of infrastructure for their sustainability. They warned of the need to have joint strategies in the territories for dialogue with the communities in view of the arrival of projects in the sector.

Likewise, the need for joint work between the sector, the territory, and the national government in the face of the transition was highlighted, so that this redounds to the benefit of the entire country.

Finally, and given that for the Government of Change, social justice and equity are fundamental pillars, the Ministry highlighted some progress made in this area during 2022:

• For the first time, Cabo de la Vela (Uribia, La Guajira) has 24-hour electricity.
• 740 families from stratum 1 in Sucre were connected to the natural gas service. 4,000 inhabitants of the rural areas of the municipalities of San Pedro and Ovejas benefit.
• The incentive that users of strata 1 and 2 can access with the Efficient Caribbean Program to change their refrigerator for a more efficient one in energy consumption was increased from 400,000 to 840,000 pesos. It is estimated that they could save up to 50,000 pesos a month in fees.

More than 4,300 families were benefited from the "Todos Somos Pazcífico Fund" project, which, with an investment of 6 billion pesos, seeks to carry out projects for the construction of efficient internal electrical installations and the implementation of Rational Energy Use (URE) measures. ) in households in the Colombian Pacific region.