Colombia Slashes Solar Project Permits By 74% To 40 Days

On July 21st, the Colombian Ministry of Environment announced the implementation of the LASolar policy, which simplifies the approval process and authorizes the National Environmental Permitting Agency to approve 10-100MW solar projects. The technical specifications require the site to be located in an already developed area, at a distance of more than 500 meters from water bodies/wetland protected areas, and mandatory planning of demolition plans must be carried out and comply with the national land use planning. In 1959, forest protected areas were allowed to build community solar/micro-grid systems with a capacity of less than 5MW, without the need for forestland replacement.

 

The new regulations have simultaneously optimized the approval process. By using a dedicated environmental impact assessment template (including satellite monitoring data), the cycle has been shortened from 152 days to 40 days. The social provisions require that the environmental assessment include community energy agreements, and ANLA will subsequently supervise their implementation. Environment Minister Lena Estrada announced at the London Climate Action Week that the country is fulfilling its commitment at COP28 to phase out fossil fuels and proposed to jointly host the Global Fossil Fuel Elimination Summit in 2026 with the United Kingdom.