- El Paso, which is located in the Cesar department, in the north of Colombia, will have an installed capacity of 86.2 MW and will be able to generate around 176 GWh per year once fully operational
- Antonio Cammisecra, Enel’s Head of Global Renewable Energies division, visited the plant, which is Colombia’s largest solar facility currently under construction and the Enel Group’s first solar project in the country
- The Group will be investing around 70 million US dollars in the construction of the plant, which is expected to start operations in the second half of 2018
Rome and Bogota, May 24th, 2018 – Enel, through its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power Colombia (“EGPC”), is building the 86.2 MW El Paso solar power plant, which is its first solar project in Colombia and the country’s largest facility of this kind currently under construction. A visit to El Paso, located in the Cesar department in the north of Colombia, was held to present the project and its progress to Francisco Ovalle, Governor of Cesar, at the presence of Antonio Cammisecra, Enel’s Head of Global Renewable Energies division Enel Green Power (“EGP”). Lucio Rubio, country manager of Enel in Colombia, as well as national, regional and local authorities also attended the visit.
"The construction of El Paso is a key milestone in the development of the Enel Group’s renewable footprint in Colombia and it also marks an important step towards the diversification of the country’s generation mix, showcasing what renewables are capable of," said Antonio Cammisecra, Head of Enel Green Power. “We are leveraging on our expertise to build Colombia’s first large-scale solar power plant to have a centralised energy dispatch, which means having a daily commitment to deliver power to the grid, like any other large-scale conventional power plant. Colombia presents interesting growth opportunities for Enel Green Power as it is blessed by a wealth of renewable resources, and this is why we are committed to develop a diversified portfolio of solar and wind projects in the country.”
Enel will be investing approximately 70 million US dollars in the construction of El Paso, which is expected to start operation in the second half of 2018. The solar facility will be composed of around 250,000 solar panels and once fully operational will be able to produce 176 GWh per year. The plant will be connected to the National Power Transmission System through the El Paso Substation.
In line with the Creating Shared Value (CSV) model adopted by the Enel Group, which aims to combine business development and local community needs, EGPC is carrying out several initiatives to support local businesses and communities, which include entrepreneurship training courses, energy efficiency and rural electrification projects targeting some schools in the area as well as environmental projects to conserve local ecosystems. Moreover, the construction site of El Paso is based on Enel’s “Sustainable Construction Site” model, incorporating the rational use of resources, such as water saving systems and recycling processes. In addition, El Paso has been planned to blend in with the neighboring environment and communities, its design involving an environmental corridor that will allow wildlife to pass through the project site.
In Colombia, Enel is the first private investor in the country’s energy sector. The Group’s generation subsidiary Emgesa has a total installed capacity of over 3.5 GW, equal to a market share of 21% from thermal and hydro sources. Codensa is the Enel Group’s distribution company in Colombia, which distributes and sells electricity in Bogotá and 103 municipalities in the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá and Tolima, serving over 3.3 million customers, equivalent to a market share of around 25%.
Enel Green Power, the renewable energies division of the Enel Group, is dedicated to the development and operation of renewables across the world, with a presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Enel Green Power is a global leader in the green energy sector with a managed capacity of around 42 GW across a generation mix that includes wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower, and is at the forefront of integrating innovative technologies into renewable power plants.