Antioquia’s Community Hydroelectric Projects Continue to Grow
The Antioquia departmental government’s investment agency (“IDEA”) announced August 15 the initial start-up of a 15-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric dam serving Alejandria, Concepcion and Santo Domingo – small municipalities roughly 50 kilometers to the east of Medellin.
The COP$120 billion (US$41 million) project incorporated two hydroelectric turbines imported from Austria and employed 300 workers. Another COP$3.9 billion (US$1.3 million) was invested in social and environmental projects, including protection of 38 hectares of forest, according to IDEA.
Some 37,500 homes could tap electricity from the new plant, according to the agency.
Meanwhile, IDEA director Mauricio Tobón announced that the agency’s “Gen+” affiliate is analyzing up-to-80 similar hydroelectric projects in Antioquia.
“Upon creating the ‘hydroelectric projects bank,’ we will enable domestic and foreign investors to find alternatives for orderly investment, with updated documentation,” Tobon added.
The “public-private alliance” for the Alejandria project included partners from the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure (Cámara Colombiana de Infraestructura), the municipality of Alejandría, and the GEN+ subsidiary of IDEA. The Alejandria plant has already contracted to sell its power output for the next 10 years, he added.
