Colombia's electricity demand rose 5.67% year-on-year in March 2026, reaching 7,461.77 GWh against 7,051.48 GWh in March 2025, according to market operator XM. For the full first quarter, demand also expanded, climbing from 20,305.1 GWh in Q1 2025 to 21,210.9 GWh in Q1 2026.
Read moreWith El Niño expected in Colombia's second half of 2026, the Caribbean region has become the country's principal hope for securing energy supply – representing 54% of national renewable generation projects and contributing more than 50% of the 4,441 MW of solar capacity assigned under the reliability charge mechanism for 2027–2028.
Read moreColombia's energy regulator CREG published draft Resolution 701 122 of 2026 for public comment on April 10, proposing a significant upgrade to the Sistema Centralizado de Información de Convocatorias Públicas (SICEP), the platform through which approximately half of all energy purchased in Colombia is contracted via public tender.
Read moreColombia's electric vehicle market grew 171.3% in the first quarter of 2026, with more than 9,000 new registrations between January and March, according to figures from the ANDI and Fenalco. Against that backdrop, the energy regulator CREG convened a multi-ministry coordination roundtable to begin developing a coherent regulatory and technical roadmap for electric mobility's integration into the national energy system.
Read moreAlongside its gas infrastructure ambitions, Drummond Energy is pursuing a significant renewable energy footprint in Colombia, with solar generation at the center of its carbon-neutrality strategy – though transmission congestion constrains the pace of expansion.
Read moreColombia's Minister of Mines and Energy, Edwin Palma, used a keynote appearance at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York on April 21 to frame the reactivation of energy integration with Venezuela as a cornerstone of Colombia's regional clean energy strategy, arguing that the current geopolitical moment offers a historic opening for cross-border electricity interconnection across Latin America.
Read moreCristian Taborda, CEO of CTR Bienes Raíces, is integrating rooftop solar installations into the company's residential and commercial property portfolio as a core value proposition, aiming to reduce energy bills for buyers to near zero and position the company as a renewable energy player alongside its traditional real estate business.
Read moreColombia's Superintendency of Public Services (Superservicios) used the National Congress on Energy Transition, held at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, to deliver one of its sharpest assessments yet of the Caribbean region's chronic electricity crisis – arguing that the problem is structural and cannot be solved by changing operators or launching yet another financial rescue plan. We provide a long commentary on his statements.
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Colombia's national interconnected system reservoirs recovered to an average useful volume of 62.8% as of mid-April, driven by rainfall over the preceding days, according to the latest report from the Superintendency of Public Services (Superservicios).
Read moreMinister of Mines and Energy Edwin Palma used the 9th SER Colombia Renewables Fair in Barranquilla on April 23 to present a ten-measure package he said has already produced a 2,000% increase in the incorporation of clean energy into Colombia's electricity system — a headline figure the ministry did not break down against a specific baseline in the press release.
Read moreSanta Marta hosted the First International Conference for the Transition Beyond Fossil Fuels from April 24–29, 2026, co-organized by Colombia and the Netherlands as a high-level platform for governments, academics, civil society, and industry representatives to map concrete pathways away from oil, gas, and coal.
Read moreMSCI ESG Ratings has upgraded Ecopetrol's sustainability rating from BBB to A, the company announced on April 14, 2026 — a meaningful step up in one of the international benchmarks most closely watched by institutional investors when assessing ESG risk and corporate governance quality.
Read moreEcopetrol has commissioned two solar projects that together illustrate the company's dual approach to energy transition: large-scale self-generation for oilfield operations and community-scale electrification in underserved areas.
Read moreColombia is heading into a potential El Niño episode with a structural shortfall in firm energy capacity that leaves the system dangerously exposed to a prolonged drought, according to Natalia Gutiérrez, president of the electricity generators industry association Acolgen and of the National Business Council.
Read moreCREG expert commissioner Fanny Guerrero used her address at the first National Congress on Just Energy Transition and Climate Change Adaptation — organized by Air-e and Universidad del Norte — to argue that the Caribbean region's energy endowment positions it to become a motor of economic and social development, provided the right regulatory and infrastructure conditions are put in place.
Read moreThe Ministry of Mines and Energy has issued Resolution 40208, opening a long-term electricity contracting auction that will award 15-year supply contracts beginning January 2030, with a separate tranche starting 2035.
Read moreTerpel Sunex and Zonamerica Colombia have launched the second phase of their photovoltaic installation at Zonamerica's technology campus in Cali, adding 674 panels to the 880 already in operation from the first phase and bringing the total array to 1,554 modules.
Read moreThe Institución Universitaria de Barranquilla (IUB) has commissioned a rooftop photovoltaic system at its Plaza de la Paz campus, adding an institutional anchor to Barranquilla's broader push toward energy transition under Mayor Alejandro Char
Read moreEnlaza, the power transmission subsidiary of Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB), has launched E-CoTigrillo, a formal conservation strategy for the woolly ocelot (tigrillo lanudo), a vulnerable feline species whose habitat overlaps with the company's Chivor II–Norte and Sogamoso transmission projects in Cundinamarca.
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A Corficolombiana research report cited by Bloomberg Línea delivers the starkest assessment yet of Colombia's gas supply trajectory: production is in freefall, imports are surging to compensate, and the country is becoming dangerously dependent on infrastructure never designed for the role it is now playing.
Read moreSpeaking at the Naturgas industry association congress in Cartagena, Minister of Mines and Energy Edwin Palma issued a pointed warning to energy sector actors that climate experts have flagged a probable El Niño event — one that could develop into a severe episode — and that preparation cannot wait.
Read moreA new clean energy research and innovation hub has been established in Medellín, with the formal launch of Energy Valley, Centro Avanzado de Energía, unveiled at the annual plenary of the Sustainable Energy Cluster of the Medellín Chamber of Commerce — an event marking two decades of the cluster's operation.
Read moreClimate finance research organization Carbon Tracker, working in association with Colombian transition justice group POLEN Transiciones Justas, published an April 2026 analyst report making an data-based economic argument for Colombia to rapidly pivot its transport sector from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
Read moreSpeaking at the Naturgas congress in Cartagena on April 15, Energy Minister Edwin Palma used the gas industry forum to address the overlapping electricity system pressures that will define the incoming government's energy inheritance — centering on the Caribbean service crisis, El Niño preparedness, and the structural gas supply constraints that directly condition thermal generation capacity.
Read moreSpeaking at the National Congress on Just Energy Transition and Climate Change Adaptation, Atlántico Governor Eduardo Verano argued that Colombia's energy transition cannot advance on renewable resource potential alone — and that the country's electricity system requires deep structural reform before the Caribbean's wind and solar endowment can be meaningfully monetized.
Read moreThe probability of El Niño conditions developing in Colombia has exceeded 60% in the near term and could reach 90% by September.
Read moreColombia's suspension of electricity exports to Ecuador — in place since January 22, when President Petro halted sales in response to Ecuador's imposition of a 30% "security tariff" on Colombian imports, citing inadequate cooperation on narcotrafficking and illegal mining — has hardened into a firm political condition.
Read moreEnergy Minister Edwin Palma met in Bogotá with Anne McKinney, vice president of the Americas Program at the US Chamber of Commerce and executive vice president of AACCLA, alongside representatives of Drummond Ltd., Baker Hughes, Glenfarne Group, General Motors, Capitol and PepsiCo, in a meeting that reaffirmed the American private sector's appetite for expanded participation in Colombia's energy and competitiveness agenda.
Read moreA study by the Fundación para el Desarrollo del Caribe (Fundesarrollo) and consultancy Barrera Rey – Economic Advisory, commissioned by regional chambers of commerce and industry associations, concludes that the Caribbean electricity crisis cannot be solved by replacing Air-e's management — and proposes dismantling the current single-operator model entirely in favor of three to five territorially specialized companies.
Read moreThe Corporación Autónoma Regional del Atlántico (CRA) is running a pilot project to generate electricity from the current of the Magdalena River using a hydrokinetic turbine – a technology that extracts energy from flowing water without requiring a dam or reservoir, and therefore without significantly altering the river's natural dynamics.
Read morePresident Gustavo Petro used X to attribute the historically high electricity tariffs in Colombia's Caribbean region to decisions taken under the governments of Álvaro Uribe Vélez and Iván Duque Márquez, renewing a long-running political dispute over the collapse of the former regional distributor Electricaribe and its aftermath.
Read moreThe national government issued Decree 0393 on April 10, 2026, establishing the policy framework for integrating Energy Storage Systems (SAE) into both the National Interconnected System (SIN) and the Non-Interconnected Zones (ZNI) — areas of the country not connected to the main grid.
Read moreNorwegian renewable energy developer Scatec ASA and Norway's development finance institution Norfund have secured financing of CoP$364.8B from Bancolombia and the Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN) to develop, build and operate the Barzalosa solar park, located between the municipalities of Nariño and Girardot in Cundinamarca.
Read moreWith El Niño now forecast to arrive in September 2026, Colombia's thermal generation sector is navigating a dual challenge: securing sufficient fuel volumes while managing an increasingly stark price divergence between gas and coal that is already reshaping industrial consumption patterns.
Read moreEcopetrol is soliciting information from companies with capabilities in geothermal technologies.
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Luz Stella Murgas, president of Naturgas, used a wide-ranging El Tiempo interview published April 13 to deliver a specific and urgent message to Colombia's energy establishment: without new LNG import infrastructure entering service by the end of 2026 or early 2027 at the latest, the country will lack the gas supply needed to run its thermoelectric fleet during the El Niño dry season now forecast to begin in September.
Read moreEnergy Minister Edwin Palma used a social media exchange with Acolgen president Natalia Gutiérrez to reopen the government's long-running challenge to Colombia's standby fee mechanism, putting a cumulative price tag on the instrument and questioning whether it has delivered on its promise ahead of the El Niño dry season.
Read moreWith the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts projecting that the El Niño event expected to begin in September 2026 could rival the historically severe episodes of 1982, 1997 and 2015, Colombia's electricity generators are pushing back against expectations of a dramatic spike in consumer electricity bills — while acknowledging a more troubling underlying constraint.
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This week XM, the electricity market manager, highlighted that hydro reservoirs were not yet filled enough to withstand an El Niño event. It seemed to suggest using coal plants to let the reservoirs fill up a bit faster.
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Colombia's wholesale electricity market administrator XM has issued a formal alert warning that the country will need to significantly expand its thermal generation capacity ahead of the El Niño phenomenon now forecast to begin in September 2026, with reservoir levels currently running well short of the target required to enter the dry season safely.
Read moreHidroItuango's reservoir has dipped back below maximum fill, recording 97.9% capacity according to the Superintendencia de Servicios Públicos Domiciliarios — a reading that could bring to a close more than 40 consecutive days of spillway releases driven by the heavy rainy season inflows to the Cauca River.
Read moreThe national government issued Decree 0375 of 2026 on April 7, establishing the Fondo Único de Soluciones Energéticas (FONENERGÍA), a unified financing vehicle that consolidates four existing mechanisms — FAER, FAZNI, PRONE and the Gas Fund — into a single instrument aimed at accelerating electricity and gas coverage in rural and non-interconnected territories.
Read moreColombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy convened approximately 32 industrial radiography companies alongside the Servicio Geológico Colombiano and other technical actors for a nuclear safeguards awareness workshop on April 10, focused on strengthening the country's compliance with its international obligations under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Read moreEcopetrol and its subsidiary Hocol have signed a partnership agreement to develop environmental and social projects aimed at closing energy access gaps, promoting non-conventional renewable energy sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in underserved communities.
Read morePresident Gustavo Petro fired back at the Asociación Colombiana de Generadores de Energía Eléctrica (Acolgen) after the industry body petitioned the Constitutional Court to suspend and strike down Decree 150 of February 11, 2026, issued to address the economic, social and ecological emergency caused by historically severe rainfall across eight departments including Córdoba, Urabá and Sucre.
Read moreIn a campaign address covering his energy policy vision, presidential candidate Iván Cepeda sketched the outlines of a clean energy agenda centered on solar and hydraulic power, positioning Ecopetrol as the lead vehicle for the country's transition away from fossil fuels rather than as a hydrocarbon producer to be wound down.
Read moreColombia's March 2026 inflation reading came in at 5.56%, marking the second consecutive monthly increase since February, but the energy components of the basket told a contrasting story of deceleration rather than acceleration.
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President Gustavo Petro used a post on X on April 4 to dispute a circulating claim that Colombia's energy matrix is 78% fossil-fuel-based, arguing that the figure reflects a methodological error by UPME technicians who count only solar and wind as clean energy while excluding hydropower.
Read moreThe El Campano solar park in Chinú, Córdoba has reached financial close, clearing the way for construction to begin on a project that will add 99.9 MW AC (128.8 MWdc) of solar capacity to Colombia's National Interconnected System.
Read moreForecasters are increasingly confident, unfortunately, that a Super El Niño — one of the most powerful climate events on record — could develop in the second half of 2026, with potentially severe consequences for Colombia's already-stressed electricity system.
Read moreThe national government announced on April 8 a CoP$377.6 billion investment in sustainable energy projects across Colombia's regions, channeled through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation under the 2025–2026 Biennial Calls Plan of the Sistema General de Regalías.
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President Gustavo Petro took to X on April 5, 2026 to claim credit for a sharp acceleration in electric vehicle sales in Colombia, citing the latest report from industry associations Andi and Fenalco showing that EV sales doubled in a single month.
Read moreRichard Francis, co-director of Sovereign Ratings for the Americas at Fitch Ratings, delivered a sober assessment of Colombia's fiscal and economic outlook in an interview published April 6, 2026, estimating the country would need at least three to four additional years to recover the investment grade it lost in 2021.
Read moreEcopetrol has obtained water use certification for five additional production fields, bringing the total number of certified assets to 23 — a roster that includes the Barrancabermeja and Cartagena refineries.
Read moreColombia became a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and one of the perks comes as technical assistance. Late last year, the country used that help to produce a roadmap to net zero.
Read moreIndira Portocarrero, director of the Unidad de Planeación Minero Energética (UPME), gave a wide-ranging interview to Valora Analitik outlining the agency's technical and regulatory agenda for the electricity sector, with system reliability, storage, and clean energy integration as the central threads.
Read moreThe Asociación Colombiana de Grandes Consumidores de Energía Industriales y Comerciales (Asoenergía), the industry body representing large industrial and commercial electricity consumers, named Silvana Habib Daza as its new Executive Director following a rigorous selection process approved at the association's General Assembly ordinary session on March 20, 2026.
Read moreThe political crisis surrounding Air-e's governance deepened in early April 2026, with competing factions within the Pacto Histórico blocking agreement on a permanent replacement for departing interventor Nelson Vásquez Torres, who left in January 2026.
Read moreEmpresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) went on the offensive in late March 2026 following the Environment Ministry's announcement of a sanction process against Hidroituango, with General Manager Jhon Maya Salazar questioning both the basis and the scope of the investigation.
Read moreThe Ministry of Mines and Energy published Resolution 40178 on March 31, 2026, establishing the general rules for long-term clean energy contracting mechanisms under Colombia's just energy transition agenda.
Read moreColombia's distributed solar sector has undergone one of the most rapid transformations in the country's energy history, growing from four solar mini-farms in 2023 to 151 as of March 2026 — an increase of 3,675% in just three years, according to XM, the national electricity market operator.
Read moreColombia's electricity sector is navigating what industry analysts describe as a moment of high structural fragility, with the gap between firm energy supply and demand having narrowed to between 1% and 2% — a margin the sector considers critical for system reliability.
Read moreCaribbean electricity distributor Air-e announced on March 27 that it will lead the First National Congress on Just Energy Transition and Climate Change Adaptation — the first event of its kind to be organized by a grid operator in Colombia.
Read moreColombia's Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME) awarded the UPME 03-2024 tender on March 26, 2026 for the installation of synchronous compensators in the National Interconnected System – the first time this grid-stabilization technology has been deployed in the country.
Read moreEcopetrol announced at its March 27 shareholder assembly that construction will begin immediately on the Windpeshi wind farm in La Guajira — between the municipalities of Uribia and Maicao — Colombia's largest wind energy project. The 205 MW facility is targeted for commissioning by late 2027, with a total investment of approximately US$350M across 2025–2027.
Read moreColombia's major electricity holding companies held their annual shareholder assemblies in late March, producing a mix of routine governance decisions and pointed shareholder friction that reflects the sector's broader tensions.
Read moreSome random notes on what we saw in the first quarter of 2026 from a green energy perspective – some longer than others, some more profound than others.
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