The Colombian government has received nominations for 69 sites from the companies that pre-qualified last year to participate in the country’s first offshore wind tender.

The area nomination procedure, whose deadline was 31 January, allowed the pre-qualified companies to propose sites to be evaluated and verified by the authorities, who will determine which of the nominated areas are suitable for submitting proposals.

“The results of this first phase of the nomination stage of the process confirm the high level of interest generated by the renewable energy segment in Colombia, demonstrating the private sector’s commitment to the country’s energy transition and the development of clean and sustainable energy sources. Offshore wind energy represents a unique opportunity to diversify the country’s energy matrix, generate employment and mitigate the impact of climate change”, said Orlando Velandia Sepúlveda, president of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH), which led the procedure together with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the General Maritime Directorate (DIMAR).

Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy and DIMAR will now begin the validation process for the sites.

Once the suitability of the sites is verified, the qualified developers will be able to make offers on areas of interest. Companies can submit proposals on areas of up to 270 square kilometres and projects with a minimum installed capacity of 200 MW. The government will award a maximum of two sites per developer.

The proposal stage is expected to be completed by the end of May 2025, with the number of bids competing for the award of the areas to be known following this period.

“[We] work in a coordinated manner to carry out the necessary analyses to verify that the nominated areas are suitable for bidding. This will allow those interested to define their strategies for submitting bids and ensure that offshore wind energy materialises in the country and that communities benefit from the introduction of new energy sources, and thus continue to advance with the fair energy transition”, said the Colombian Minister of Energy, Omar Andrés Camacho.

The Colombian government aims to award a minimum of 1 GW in the country’s first competitive process for offshore wind site allocation.

Eight companies applied to participate in the first offshore wind auction and, in December 2024, all eight were announced to have pre-qualified.