Enel does not want any coal-fired power plants in its business after 2027: What will happen to the Termozipa operation in Colombia?

As part of its decarbonization strategy and its commitment to fighting climate change, the Enel Group has set itself the goal of having no operational coal-fired power plants in its portfolio after 2027.

This decision raises questions about the future of Termozipa, the company's only thermoelectric plant in Colombia, specifically in the municipality of Tocancipá (Cundinamarca).

It has an installed capacity of 225 megawatts and for some time now the energy supply of Bogotá and departments in central Colombia, such as Cundinamarca and Boyacá, has been highly dependent on its operation.

Therefore, the general manager of Enel Colombia, Francesco Bertoli, assured that, for reasons of operational necessity, "Termozipa will hardly be shut down in 2027."

“Termozipa is a plant in which we have invested and which has been modernized to improve its performance. It is a 60-year-old plant that we would not want to operate,” he stated.

Termozipa is a plant in which we have invested and which has been modernized.

Furthermore, the general manager of Enel Colombia assured that the construction of some electricity transmission projects would "enable the shutdown" of this coal-fired power plant.

However, after 14 years, these transmission lines have not been completed due to various issues with neighboring communities. Furthermore, they still have pending environmental permits and licenses.

These are the Sogamoso-Nueva Esperanza and Chivor II-Norte projects. Both depend on the construction of the North substation, which had to be moved from Gachancipá to the municipality of Sesquilé due to community opposition.

“This substation is the most urgent because it is the central hub of both projects. The transmission lines of Enel Colombia's regional system, which are necessary to reinforce the electricity supply in the center of the country, also connect to it ,” said Fredy Zuleta, general manager of Enlaza, a subsidiary of GEB.

The most urgent thing is this substation because it is the central core of both projects

Since the location of the North substation has changed, ANLA needs to approve a modification to the environmental license. Once approved, construction could take about 15 months.

However, the construction of some sections of the Sogamoso-Nueva Esperanza and Chivor II-Norte lines also remains to be completed. This requires modifying the environmental permits, but the process is stalled due to land acquisition permits.

According to the general manager of Enlaza, these two projects should be ready by the second half of 2027, if the necessary extraction permits and environmental licenses are obtained.

These transmission lines are necessary to bring more electricity to the central region of Colombia in order to guarantee reliability in the provision of service and connect new residential and industrial users.

In fact, in municipalities such as Nemocón and Zipaquirá (Cundinamarca) there are more than 3,000 homes that have not been delivered because they currently do not have access to electricity.

Emma Maribel Salazar, Director of Operations Planning at XM, stated that the Sabana Norte region of Bogotá is declared to be in a “condition of alert” due to its vulnerability regarding the provision of electricity service.

Furthermore, for the Eastern area, which includes the departments of Cundinamarca, Guaviare and Meta, an increase in electricity demand of 9.6 percent is projected over the next five years.

Because demand is growing faster than generation capacity in this area of ​​the country, Termozipa has been operating continuously for more than a year, despite being designed to be a backup plant.

Its operation generates 90,000 tons of CO2 per month, equivalent to the pollution generated by all the cars in Bogotá for 15 days. “It shouldn’t be running,” Fredy Zuleta asserted.

Given this scenario, Grupo Enel's decision could pave the way for a possible sale of Termozipa. This is the only thermal power plant the company has left in Colombia after announcing the sale of Termocartagena in July 2023.