Colombia enters its dry season in December with less margin in electricity and gas supply than in past El Niño episodes, according to XM and industry groups.
Read moreIsagen's proposed Summa solar complex in Sahagún, Córdoba, would add about 400 MWp across two parks of roughly 200 MWp each, with a large battery storage system, but it remains in the study phase.
Read moreSolar power can help diversify Colombia's electricity supply during a very strong El Niño, but only if projects can connect to the grid quickly, industry figures say.
Read moreAlmost 14 million Colombians live in energy poverty or at risk of falling into it, according to the fourth edition of the Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (IMPE) from Promigas and its foundation, Fundación Promigas.
Read moreCREG has published a draft resolution for consultation that would let new and existing power projects take on firm-energy commitments for 2027-2028, 2028-2029 and 2029-2030, with remuneration and bonuses for plants that come online early.
Read moreColombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy and EPM have signed an agreement to explore what role nuclear power could play in the country's electricity system, and EPM describes the effort as a 15-year undertaking.
Read moreGrupo Energía Bogotá (GEB) and Canada's La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec have closed the formation of Verene Energia, a holding company that combines their Brazilian transmission assets.
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The only things not falling are fossil-fuel-based thermal generation and demand. This month a quick update of our standard charts from XM’s monthly statistical update for September 2026.
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Proeléctrica, a power generator in Cartagena, has entered the testing phase of an expansion that will raise its Mamonal plant from 90 MW to 108 MW when fully operational in early 2027.
Read moreColombia's energy regulator CREG has put out for consultation a draft resolution that would set who is cut first if electricity supply falls short, updating rules dating from 1998.
Read moreMedellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez has ruled out selling any stake in Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) while he is in office, saying the company will remain 100% public.
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Air-e users in Barranquilla and the rest of its Caribbean service area will pay CoP$936 per kWh in November, up CoP$63 or 7% from CoP$873.
Read morePresident Abelardo De la Espriella says reservoirs stand at about 75.7% to 75.8% of capacity, short of the government's goal of more than 80% before November 30th and has asked the utilities regulator to investigate generators that have delivered less than they promised.
Read moreSix of ISA's nine directors are new after the October 28 extraordinary shareholders' meeting, and the three who remain are the pension-fund nominees. Ecopetrol, ISA's majority shareholder, nominated five of the nine.
Read moreThe Asociación Colombiana de Ciudades Intermedias (Asointermedias) has backed the government's measures against El Niño and asked for coordinated action in the regions, including campaigns to save water and energy.
Read moreMedellín Mayor Federico Gutiérrez says Afinia costs EPM CoP$1.5 trillion a year, and the utility may transfer only CoP$1.5 trillion to the city next year instead of the CoP$2.8 trillion expected.
Read moreSenators at an energy hearing in Barranquilla pressed for urgent funding for Air-e and Afinia and questioned the consumption penalties on Caribbean users.
Read moreCongress's 2027 budget cuts CoP$3 trillion associated with the El Niño phenomenon, according to the Universidad Javeriana's Fiscal Observatory.
Read moreISA has brought solar power to 92 families in 12 rural villages in Bosconia, Cesar, in areas hit hard by the armed conflict.
Read moreSPEC's Cartagena LNG regasification terminal has had a second operational failure in under a month, and will run at 400 mmcfd while one of its four trains is repaired.
Read moreIsagen is selling mature hydro plants and solar parks and reinvesting the proceeds in new capacity, with nearly US$1B planned to add about 800 MWp, mainly solar with some battery storage.
Read moreAir-e says electricity consumption in the electrically subnormal sectors it serves has grown by more than 20%, which the article describes as well above the general trend in demand in the region and the country.
Read moreSuccessfully navigating this year’s “Super El Niño” was always going to take sacrifices by users, lowering their consumption to mitigate lower generating capacity. Not everyone has got the message.
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EPM says low river flows and reservoir levels linked to El Niño at its Hidroituango and Guatapé plants could force it to buy more energy on the spot market.
Read moreColombia's government has presented "Plan Energía Ya," a CoP$2.7T program to prevent a blackout linked to El Niño, and set December 31st as the final deadline to carry out its preventive measures.
Read moreAtlántico Governor Eduardo Verano and several senators called for urgent measures to avoid a blackout at a Senate Fifth Commission public hearing in Barranquilla on Oct. 22, attended by Mines and Energy Minister María Nohemí Arboleda.
Read moreAir-e and the national police have strengthened their partnership against electricity theft in Atlántico department.
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Colombia's reservoirs stand at 76.56% of useful volume, 3.44 percentage points below the 80% level XM considers necessary to face El Niño, despite October's rains.
Read moreXM, the system operator, warns that high temperatures and exhausted grid capacity could bring more localized rationing in the Caribbean, and that a national shortfall would hit the whole system.
Read moreIncauca, the Cauca Valley sugar group, expects power sales of CoP$140B to CoP$150B next year, or 13-14% of revenue, up from CoP$110B in 2026, as it expands cogeneration.
Read moreGrupo Aval says its consolidated sustainable portfolio reached CoP$45.4T at the end of 2Q26, up CoP$1.6T from a year earlier, financing projects that include solar parks and energy efficiency.
Read moreEnel's Atlántico solar park, rated at 256 MWp DC, has entered commercial operation in the municipalities of Sabanalarga and Usiacurí.
Read moreBanco de Occidente has joined the financing of Parque Solar Puertos de Santander, a solar project of about 250 MWp in Cimitarra, Santander, with up to CoP$200B committed.
Read moreXM, the system operator, estimates that Colombia's power system could enter the 2026-27 dry season with a gap of up to 7,669 GWh between firm energy and projected demand, or 8.3% of expected needs.
Read moreAdriana Jiménez, director of the energy and gas regulator CREG, says its short-term priority is responding to El Niño, with wholesale-market modernization, supply expansion and the reliability charge as medium- and long-term work.
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Colombia will resume electricity exports to Ecuador, which is in one of its worst dry seasons, with industrial power cuts and its key reservoir near critical levels.
Read moreThe main El Niño risk for Colombia's power system may be adequacy and grid reliability, not tariffs, according to a study by the Observatorio del Caribe Colombiano, while generators ask for decisions to avoid rationing.
Read moreAir-e, the state-intervened distributor, and RAP Caribe, the Caribbean planning region, say they are advancing a roadmap to stabilize and improve electricity service across the region.
Read moreDark clouds gather over Bogotá with sufficient frequency that friends who know I write about energy issues ask if, in fact, we have anything to worry about. We do.
Read moreColombia's thermal plants have fallen short of the output target set to conserve reservoir water ahead of El Niño, and their trade association says the regulator's own rule is the main reason.
Read moreXM, the wholesale electricity market operator, has warned that Colombia could be unable to cover full electricity demand in April 2027 without urgent measures, just as one columnist argues that a record El Niño is still being underestimated.
Read moreSix years after Air-e and Afinia replaced Electricaribe, the Caribbean still has no lasting solution to its electricity problems, with debts to generators, high losses and tariffs residents struggle to pay all unresolved.
Read moreColombia has a new vice minister of energy: Alex Fabián Cañas takes over from Armando Cuello, who has resigned.
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EPM is the highest-ranked energy company in Merco's 2026 Colombia reputation ranking, at 12th, while Ecopetrol fell eight places to 25th.
Read morePresident Abelardo de la Espriella has issued a directive that reshapes how Colombia handles prior consultation with ethnic communities, replacing three earlier presidential directives.
Read moreVice President José Manuel Restrepo says the government will work to unblock energy projects in La Guajira that could bring in about US$2.5B of investment.
Read moreBarranquilla used an energy session at an Organization of American States competitiveness forum to present its renewable plans to investors, led by an offshore wind project of 350 MW that could reach 700 MW.
Read moreThe new head of Barranquilla's chamber of commerce has put energy at the top of his agenda, starting with the debts of troubled distributor Air-e.
Read moreAltia, a Colombian generation platform with a gas-fired plant in Casanare, has bought 219 MWp of hydro and solar capacity from Isagen, giving it a footprint in three generation technologies.
Read moreAir-e, the state-intervened distributor serving Colombia's Caribbean coast, is running an energy-saving awareness campaign in Atlántico, Magdalena and La Guajira as consumers worry about surcharges tied to higher electricity use.
Read moreColombian buyers of electric and eligible hybrid cars have five years from the date on the sales invoice to ask the DIAN tax authority for a VAT refund, even if the UPME energy-planning certificate arrives after the purchase.
Read moreLandfill biogas is being pitched as a modest complement to Colombia's power supply as El Niño tightens the system, and Barranquilla hosts the country's largest plant.
Read moreColombia's weather agency has officially declared El Niño, and the wholesale-market operator says electricity supply could fall short next April unless thermal plants run flat out.
Read moreMines and Energy Minister María Nohemí Arboleda has warned Congress that electricity tariffs will increase, as hydropower can no longer cover all demand and El Niño pushes the system toward expensive gas-fired generation.
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We updated our El Niño monitoring charts for the latest available numbers from XM. Our key indicator, which we call “Reservoir Life” is holding steady.
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Electric and hybrid models made up 50.7% of new vehicles registered in Colombia in September, with 17,156 units.
Read moreCesar has become Colombia's second-largest solar-generating department, behind only Atlántico, as small and large projects multiply across the north of the country.
Read moreColombia's government has set December 31st as the deadline to remove any risk of a blackout and issued its first concrete measure, a decree on thermal plant fuel.
Read moreEl Heraldo's editorial board backs the government's decision to reassign CoP$1.2T to cover Air-e's debts but warns the payout must not shield those who ruined the utility.
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Ten large solar projects, all in operation, anchor Colombia's utility-scale fleet, and Enel and Isagen lead the list.
Read moreA Universidad Nacional study of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Colombia's Coffee Region is in final evaluation for funding from the national royalties system, with a goal of making the initiative a reality by 2035.
Read moreThe first electricity bills with penalties under Colombia's El Niño savings scheme have reached Caribbean households, drawing protests from consumer groups, ombudsmen and lawmakers who say the program ignores the region's heat.
Read moreA total power outage lasting four hours would expose about CoP$460.8B of economic value across Colombia's seven Caribbean departments, according to an estimate by the think tank Fundesarrollo.
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Colombia's spot power price averaged CoP$946.6 per kWh in August, up 278.2% from CoP$250.3 a year earlier and 18.7% from July.
Read moreWithout thermal generation, Colombia's power system has no real protection in a drought, argues an El Heraldo opinion column.
Read moreColombia's utilities regulator will watch hydro and thermal plants, company finances and grid assets for signs of trouble during El Niño.
Read moreHitachi Energy and Eve Air Mobility are partnering on the electrical infrastructure that electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs) will need, framing grid capacity, not aircraft, as the main challenge.
Read moreColombia has formally suspended electricity sales to Ecuador, pausing a trade that earned CoP$530.7B between January 2025 and August 2026.
Read morePresident Abelardo De la Espriella met Caribbean governors, mayors and power-sector officials on the night of October 1 to start a roadmap for El Niño and the risk to energy supply.
Read moreA repeat of Colombia's 1992 power rationing would cost about CoP$30.7T, and a columnist argues that unpaid Caribbean power debt has made the system more fragile than it looks.
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The Petro government said we need to have reservoirs at 80%. MinEnergia Arboleda, who ran XM under Petro, now says we should be at 90%. The graph shows that, at the end of August, we were not quite at 80% yet.
Read moreColombian sugar and ethanol producer Incauca expects energy to account for 13-14% of its revenue in 2027, as it moves ahead with five new projects.
Read moreColombia has closed its pro tempore presidency of the Andean Electrical Interconnection System (SINEA) and passed it to Ecuador for 2026-2027.
Read moreThe government has asked Congress to shift CoP$1.2T within the 2026 budget to pay what Air-e owes the power market.
Read moreColombia's biofuels industry has avoided 15.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions since 2022 while moving about CoP$25T over five years, roughly 3% of annual manufacturing-industry GDP.
Read moreColombia's environmental licensing authority (ANLA) cleared two small transmission projects in Cundinamarca on consecutive days, both built to connect data centers to the national grid.
Read moreThe government has widened eligibility for "Caribe Cambia tu Energía," a program that gives Caribbean households a 40% incentive to replace old refrigeration equipment, by removing a ceiling on monthly electricity consumption.
Read moreSenator Gonzalo Baute has formally asked the Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission (CREG) to explain whether it considered the Caribbean's climate when designing its national energy-saving program.
Read moreEnel Colombia is fighting a Bogotá city council proposal that would require the capital's electricity cables to go underground, calling it technically unworkable and financially out of reach.
Read moreColombia's energy establishment is split over the right fix for a worsening firm-energy deficit: hold more reliability auctions to bring in new capacity or focus on getting already-awarded projects built.
Read moreColombia's government reached an agreement with Enel Colombia and AES Colombia to reschedule major maintenance at two of the country's largest hydroelectric plants -- El Guavio and Chivor II -- so the work doesn't overlap during the peak-demand months of the 2026-2027 El Niño.
Read moreExecutives from Air-e and Afinia used Andesco's 28th congress to warn that both Caribbean-region utilities face financial distress serious enough to demand immediate structural intervention, not incremental fixes.
Read moreA customer in Barranquilla's Olaya neighborhood is facing judicial proceedings after attacking Air-e technicians with a hammer and damaging the company's vehicle during a visit tied to his unpaid CoP$2.6 million electricity bill.
Read morePresident Abelardo de la Espriella issued Presidential Directive No. 3, ordering five ministries and the national disaster-risk agency UNGRD to jointly develop a coordinated response roadmap for the El Niño phenomenon expected to intensify through 2026-2027.
Read moreIsagen is selling four small hydroelectric plants and five solar parks – roughly 208 MW of combined installed capacity – to a consortium formed by EDF Power Solutions and BTG Pactual Commodities.
Read moreUPME director Rafael Fragozo gave an update on Colombia's transmission expansion pipeline this week, confirming seven works already under execution alongside a broader rollout of new bidding processes.
Read moreColombia's railway and public-transit sector produced a lighter crop of news this quarter, but the through-line is consistent.
Read moreBrazilian asset manager Patria Investments has sold its controlling stake in Puerta de Oro, Colombia's largest solar park, to Colombian generator Isagen.
Read moreColombia's environmental authorities have approved raising Hidroituango's reservoir level from 408 to 420 meters above sea level, a 12-meter increase that unlocks meaningful extra storage just as El Niño tightens the hydrological outlook.
Read moreColombia's government will not hold any energy-reliability auctions in 2026, pushing the process into 2027 instead.
Read moreFacing a fiscal deficit CARF projects could reach 10% of GDP by the close of 2027 and net debt around 67.3% of GDP, former Finance Minister Mauricio Cárdenas told Blu Radio that selling Ecopetrol's majority stake in ISA to Colombia's pension funds would be a smart move.
Read moreColombia's biofuels sector avoided an estimated 15.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and roughly 3,400 tons of particulate matter between 2022 and 2026.
Read moreCamilo Sánchez, president of Andesco, laid out a stark picture of Colombia's supply-demand imbalance heading into the peak of El Niño.
Read moreColombia's gas-import lifeline came under direct strain this week when a mechanical failure forced SPEC LNG's floating regasification unit in Cartagena to cut capacity from 475 to 400 mmcfd, just hours after authorities had flagged the risk of running the plant too hard.
Read moreVice President José Manuel Restrepo acknowledged at Acolgen's 18th Annual Energy Congress that Colombia's electricity system faces a complex situation, inherited as a blackout risk from the prior administration.
Read moreAcolgen president Natalia Gutiérrez told the association's Annual Energy Congress that Colombia faces two distinct problems: "we have a short-term need. A structural problem."
Read moreCiti analyst Johanna Chua said equatorial Pacific warming has crossed the threshold defining the most intense El Niño episodes on record, with sea-surface anomalies near 3°C through September 14th.
Read moreAndeg president Alejandro Castañeda endorsed CREG's energy-savings program but called for adjustments accounting for the Caribbean's heat.
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