Private ports in Colombia can handle goods for renewable energy projects

The Colombian energy ministry said Friday that private service ports will be allowed to receive and handle imported equipment destined for renewable energy projects in the country.

Private ports have been given the special green light through a resolution by the ministry of transport and will have to seek authorisation from the national infrastructure agency ANI to provide services to third parties to which they are not legally or economically linked.

To receive authorisation, private ports have to demonstrate that they have better technical features in terms of location, logistics and access to transport infrastructure required to move cargo compared to available public ports, the energy ministry said.

The ministry reminded that at least 14 renewable energy projects will be built by 2022 thanks to power auctions held last year. Nine of them are wind power projects, which are to be located in the department of La Guajira on the Caribbean coast. The remaining five are solar projects planned for the departments of Cesar, Cordoba, Valle del Cauca and Tolima.

The energy ministry highlighted that the new resolution will give project developers more choice in picking a port that best serves their transport needs and can move the equipment to its final destination. It will also improve equipment delivery times, allowing developers to meet commissioning deadlines, while also letting them better coordinate dates and docking needs at times when multiple projects are being carried out simultaneously, the ministry added.

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