Ecopetrol, a Colombian company, buys a wind energy project from Enel at $50 million

Ecopetrol, the state-owned oil company of Colombia, announced on Monday that it had purchased from Enel a wind energy project in La Guajira province (northern Colombia) for $50 million.

Ecopetrol Group said that the Windpeshi project, which has a capacity to produce 205 megawatts of energy for self-consumption, will be included in its portfolio.

"We closed the deal for about $50 million." Ecopetrol Chief Executive Ricardo Roa said at a press briefing that the total cost of development is about $350m, and this will be part of Ecopetrol Group's portfolio.

Roa said that the project, which includes a total of 41 wind turbines with a capacity of 5 MW, will deliver an annual average of 1,006 Gigawatt Hours (GWh), or 8%-9% of Group's energy needs.

The company plans to start operations in 2028.

As part of the President Gustavo Petro’s drive to move away from fossil fuels, Colombia wants to expand renewable sources of energy such as solar power, wind power and geothermal.

Many renewable projects in the north of the country, such as onshore and off-shore wind farms, have been hampered by obstacles, including opposition from indigenous groups and regulatory delays. Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez

(source: Reuters)