Wind farm construction halted in La Guajira
CE Noticias Financieras
Enel Colombia announced yesterday that it will suspend indefinitely the construction of the Windpeshi wind farm (205 megawatts) in La Guajira. This decision, as announced, was adopted by the company's Board of Directors after exhausting the internal corporate instances and due to the impossibility of guaranteeing the construction rhythms of the project due to the constant de facto ways and high expectations that exceed the Organization's framework of action. Enel also assured that in addition to the resources associated with the prior consultation commitments, more than $7.1 billion have been invested in projects related to quality education, access to water and economic development. However, and despite the company's permanent willingness to dialogue and agreement, the works were halted for about 50% of the working days during 2021 and 2022, and so far in 2023 the figure rose to 60%. "The projects have to be sustainable not only from a social point of view but also economically and their success depends on the joint work between companies, institutions and communities. We will continue to dialogue with communities and stakeholders to address the implications of this decision," said Eugenio Calderón, manager of Enel Green Power in Colombia and Central America. This indefinite suspension phase means stopping construction work and maintaining only those that are strictly necessary to comply with social and environmental commitments. In this way, Enel will evaluate the options for selling the project and is open to facilitate the necessary agreements so that the National Government or interested companies in the sector can continue with the construction. Despite this, it is important to highlight that, through its Enel Green Power business line, the Company will continue to build around 800 megawatts (MW) of non-conventional renewable energy in the departments of Cesar, Magdalena and Atlántico, representing an investment of more than $2.5 billion.