Colombia Offshore Wind Development Projects

The Government of Colombia through the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the General Maritime Directorate (DIMAR) and the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) are moving forward with the First Round for the assignment of Temporary Occupation Permits over maritime areas for the development of Offshore Wind projects. In May 2022, the Government of Colombia published the roadmap for offshore wind development. Since then, on October 27, 2023, the three entities mentioned above provided a presentation of the draft bidding terms. The first round will include the awarding of temporary occupation projects in the central Caribbean territory including the departments of Magdalena, Atlantico, Sucre, and Bolivar. The temporary occupation projects will have a total capacity of 6 GW, will cover a maritime territory of 12,000 km², and a temporary occupation of eight (8) years. The ANH will be the technical administrator of the area’s assignation process. 

Resolution 40284 of 2022 provided the guidelines for the first round. However, the technical team made some adjustments, including that the areas should not exceed 270 km² of extension, and the capacity per bidder should not be higher than 200 MW. The areas will be located within the borders defined by DIMAR, and each area must be located a minimum of 500 meters from a submarine cable. The purpose of the temporary occupation is for the development of measurement activities and data and information collection to establish the project viability. If viability exists, the Government of Colombia will outline the necessary activities for bidders to obtain licenses and permits for the construction of the offshore wind energy generation project. If the project is feasible, the concession will be assigned for 30 years. The bid is estimated to open on December 4, 2023, and the process could take up to 14 months to be completed. The process is divided into five phases: qualification, nomination of areas, proposals, and selection, formalization, and temporary occupation permits. The Colombian government is seeking developers to invest in these projects. However, the development of these projects entails numerous opportunities for U.S. companies as the supply chain for this sector is under construction.