Colombia's Solar Grid Crisis: Just 1.4% On-Grid Projects By 2025

 

Colombia's grid operator disclosed that in the first quarter of 2025, the country added 13 new solar power stations with a total installed capacity of 16MW, bringing the total installed capacity of PV power to 1,348MW (in operation) + 699 MW (under testing). However, the severe delay in the construction of transmission infrastructure is threatening the deployment of PV power in the country. 55% of the national/regional system's transmission projects have been delayed, preventing projects from being officially connected to the grid.

 

Currently, there are 143 projects in Colombia waiting to be connected to the grid, with a total installed capacity of 10.2GW. In the fixed energy obligation auction, 30 ongoing PV projects and most of the winning stations in the 2027-2028 rounds face the risk of not being connected to the grid, and over 60% of the winning projects cannot be completed on time due to the lack of energy storage plans. In the past five years, the actual connection rate of photovoltaic projects in Colombia has continued to decline, with only 28% of the planned projects being connected. At the beginning of 2025, the total planned installed capacity of 3,517MW of projects was actually connected at only 50MW (1.4%).