Colombian ministry says 9 companies interested in offshore wind project

 (Reuters) – Colombia’s energy ministry said on Tuesday it had received interest from seven foreign and two local companies in an offshore wind power project and that it expected formal bids within the first six months of 2025.

The companies include Colombian state oil firm Ecopetrol  and power firm Celsia, Spain’s BlueFloat Energy, Denmark’s Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Belgium’s Jan De Nul and DEME , China’s PowerChina and China Three Gorges  and Britain’s Dyna Energy, the ministry said.

“The aim of this first round is to assign maritime areas in which can be installed between 1,000 and 3,000 megawatts,” the ministry said in a statement, in which it said a definitive list of competent companies should be drawn up by December.

“This process would be the first in Latin America for the generation of offshore wind power,” it added.

Orlando Velandia, who heads the country’s national hydrocarbon agency ANH, said the interest demonstrated confidence on the part of major international firms in Colombia’s energy transition.

Colombia will host the COP16 biodiversity summit in Cali, where delegations are set to discuss national plans to protect nature.

The government has repeatedly pushed back the deadline for companies to register for the offshore wind power project tender, part of the strategy of President Gustavo Petro’s government to wean the Andean country from its dependence on fossil fuels while ensuring energy self-sufficiency.

The projects would largely be located in areas off the country’s northern Caribbean coast, across the departments of Sucre, Bolivar, Atlantico and Magdalena, the ministry said.