EPM resumes ops of Colombia's only wind farm after half-year pause

Colombia’s first and only wind farm, the 19.5-MW Jepirachi, resumed operations over the weekend after being inactive since the beginning of the year, its owner has announced.

Colombian power company Empresas Publicas de Medellin ESP (EPM) said on Twitter that the wind farm was authorised to start operations on July 18 and run until 2023.

Early this year, EPM suspended operations at Jepirachi to comply with the resolution of the energy and gas regulatory commission (CREG), which required the company to adopt new technologies.

Due to its age and characteristics, the wind farm, which started commercial operation on April 27, 2004, could not be technologically upgraded and instead stopped generating power, the Medellin-based utility said.

EPM filed a request with the government asking to be allowed to resume operation until the end of the wind farm’s useful life in 2023. It was joined by the population around Jepirachi, which benefits from a variety of community projects that EPM has set up in the area.

After the government gave the green light, EPM was able to switch on the wind farm with all safety protocols in place to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease COVID-19, the utility added.

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