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- The 17 large-scale solar farm projects are located in the departments of Valle del Cauca, Tolima, Santander and Sucre. They use 650 thousand solar panels and have generated 3,500 jobs during their construction.
- The investment in these new solar farms has exceeded one trillion Colombian pesos.
- Some of them will supply renewable energy for all Colombians, as they are connected to the National Interconnected System (SIN, for the Spanish original). Others will supply clean energy to companies in the country to make them more competitive.
- Among the companies that will rely on solar energy from these plants are Levapan, Solla, Grasas S.A. and Zona Franca del Pacífico.
May 26, 2022. With 17 solar power plants under construction in 2022, Celsia has put the pedal to the metal in incorporating clean energy for Colombians.
Each one of these projects exceeds 8 megawatts (MW) of capacity, and they are being developed through the C2 Energía investment platform, in partnership with Cubico Sustainable Investments, an international investment fund. The investment in building the 17 farms will exceed one trillion Colombian pesos. Two of them are in the final energization process, one in Valle and the other in Sucre, and the other farms are under development, executing their civil works.
“We dreamed it, and we achieved it. Celsia’s growth in solar energy is exponential: In 2017, we developed the first large-scale solar project in Colombia, amounting to 9.8 MW in Yumbo. We closed 2021 with 132 MW. With those under construction today, we will have a total of 260 MW, with 17 solar farms under development that will soon provide us renewable energy, both for the National Interconnected System and for industrial customers that will obtain cleaner, more affordable production. This is a great contribution to the energy revolution Colombia is experiencing, which is an example for the entire world,” said Ricardo Sierra Fernández, CEO of Celsia, a Grupo Argos energy company.
Information on the 17 Solar Farms
- Close to 650 thousand solar panels will be installed. They have generated
- 3,500 jobs during construction.
- They will occupy 350 hectares of land, which is about 700 soccer fields.
- They are located as follows, by region:
- Eight in Valle del Cauca (109.2 MW). Five in Tolima (69.5 MW).
- Three in Chicamocha, Santander (59.7 MW). One in Sucre (19.9 MW).
- Efficient energy with environmental benefits: these farms avoid the generation of 333,915 tons of CO2 each year. In 25 years, which is the useful life of the projects, they will prevent the emission of 8,347,875 tons of CO2.
- The generated energy will supply the energy demand of nearly 220,000 homes.
Click here to download an infographic with more information.
Celsia now has 132 MW of solar power in Colombia, Panama and Honduras. The company’s goal is to complete 30 solar farms under construction between 2022 and 2023, and to reach 1 GW (in farms, floors and roofs) in four years and generate over 5,000 jobs during their construction processes.
“What excites us most at Celsia is that these initiatives contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change. In the case of the solar farms, which are dedicated to our business clients, it helps them make their production processes more sustainable and improves their competitiveness, because we offer them a more affordable energy fee than that of conventional energy”, added Sierra Fernández.