The company insists on selling its wind farms in La Guajira and points to Ecopetrol as an option to unlock them.

Although a few days ago, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Edwin Palma, announced that 20 projects that have had serious construction problems in La Guajira will be reactivated, Celsia (a company part of the Argos Group) remains determined to sell its wind farms.

According to Juan Esteban Mejía, Corporate Affairs and Presidential Manager at Grupo Argos, the company has been developing these projects for six years and has yet to see the feasibility of their construction.

This is the Acacia wind farm (80 megawatts), which is located in the municipality of Maicao, while Camelias (250 megawatts) is located in Uribia, department of La Guajira.

In February 2024, Celsia announced its intention to sell them for the first time, but has not yet abandoned this possibility due to the difficulties it has encountered with environmental licensing and the prior consultations it must conduct with neighboring communities.

"We've been in talks with various parties and could sell these assets," said Juan Esteban Mejía, while acknowledging that it will be "very difficult" for a private company to unblock these projects.

For this reason, he believes Ecopetrol and the National Government would be the most suitable partners to advance these initiatives. "In La Guajira, there is a structural issue that is challenging; developing this wind power potential will take many years," he added.

We have been in talks with different actors and we could sell those assets.

The Corporate Affairs and Presidential Manager at Grupo Argos also stated that Celsia is open to keeping these wind farms in the "draft" stage and selling them to a company willing to pay "a fair price for this diamond in the rough."

"Celsia has invested a lot of resources in these projects to reach the 'Ready to Build' phase they are in now. We have them, and they are valuable," he said.

While Celsia has been trying to move these projects forward in La Guajira for six years, in Peru it managed to do so in six months and is now completing construction of the 218-megawatt Caravelí wind farm.

For this construction, it is using the wind turbines it had purchased for installation in La Guajira. They had to be transported to Peru because the company was unable to obtain environmental licensing in time to begin construction of Camelias and Acacia.

Furthermore, the Collector transmission line was not ready to evacuate all the wind energy that was going to be generated. Construction began in the second half of last year and will be completed in August 2026.

"It was very unfortunate that we had to move the wind turbines elsewhere, at a time when it's uncertain whether Colombia will be able to withstand another El Niño," said Juan Esteban Mejía.

In Peru we are very excited because there is an energy deficit very similar to that of Colombia.

To continue growing in Peru, Celsia is raising $200 million to finance the construction of more wind farms. In fact, "a similar project is coming" in this country.

"In Peru, we're very excited because there's an energy deficit very similar to Colombia's , and construction is fairly quick," he commented.

In Colombia, the company's plans are focused primarily on solar energy , with the goal of having more than 1,000 megawatts by 2027. The company currently has 339 megawatts in operation and another 300 megawatts under construction.

"It's a business with a very good return. Colombia has an electricity deficit, so structurally there's an opportunity," said the Manager of Corporate Affairs and the President of Grupo Argos.

Colombia has a deficit in electricity, so structurally there is an opportunity

In line with this goal, Celsia recently closed the purchase from Mainstream Renewable Power of a portfolio of projects totaling 675 megawatts of solar and wind energy.

The solar parks are Andromeda (Sucre), Aries (Cordoba) and Pollux (Casanare), while the wind farms are Neptuno and Sirius, both located in La Guajira.

The company is also completing construction of the 9.6-megawatt Carreto wind farm, located in the department of Atlántico.