According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 80% of the world’s energy comes from oil, so despite all efforts to promote renewable energy sources, the world continues to depend significantly on oil, which It has caused countless environmental problems: in Medellín, for example, 7,285 people died between 2012 and 2016 due to acute respiratory diseases caused by air pollution 1 . Due to this, it is of utmost importance to understand which are the renewable energy sources and what measures Medellín and the entire metropolitan area are taking to encourage their use.
For Medellín and the Metropolitan area of Valle de Aburrá, encouraging the production of energy from renewable sources that are friendly to the environment has been one of their main challenges. With the help of Empresas Públicas de Medellín and the Medellín Metro, as well as Celsia and other companies, projects have been created to reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels. Since 2004, EPM has been committed to investing in renewable energy sources with projects that take advantage of wind energy, among which is the creation of the Jepírachi wind farm in La Guajira in 2004. Additionally, EPM has also ventured into solar energy. of developing pilot projects for public lighting in different municipalities of the department of Antioquia, since July 2019 EPM in conjunction with ERCO Energía, offers its Integral Solar Solution to small and medium-sized companies and private homes. The plan offered by EPM includes the installation of solar panels, a meter and an inverter adapted to the needs of each client. To encourage investment in renewable energies, EPM offers to purchase excess energy generated from customers, as well as financing plans for the acquisition of solar panels through the credits of the Somos EPM program 2 .
On the other hand, the Medellín Metro announced that by 2021 it will operate entirely with renewable energy, as part of a sustainability plan designed to reduce pollution in the city. Currently, the metro works 80% with hydraulic and electrical energy, and it is estimated that it reduces the emission of 670 thousand tons of CO2 per year in Medellín 3 . To meet this objective, the Medellín Metro seeks to invest in wind and solar energy, as part of this initiative, and has begun to install solar panels in some metro stations and in its administrative headquarters. It is estimated that these solar panels can provide up to 20% of the electrical energy used by the stations. In the first phase of this project, 346 solar panels will be installed, each with a power of 370 Wp 4 .
In the private sector, one of the companies that has opted the most for renewable energy sources is Celsia, the Antioqueña company is one of the national leaders in solar and wind energy. The Grupo Argos energy company, which already has more than 300,000 solar panels and 100 MW of solar energy 5 , announced that it seeks to reach 450 MV in the next 2 o 3 years in solar energy and for this it is willing to invest $ 320 million 6 . Regarding wind energy, Celsia is building a new wind farm in La Guajira, which is estimated to have a capacity of 330 MW of generation 7 . With these types of projects, Celsia seeks to increase its renewable energy generation portfolio, and increase its renewable energy generation by 600 MW by 2025 8 .
The National Government, in harmony with the investment projects in renewable energy sources in Medellín, issued Decree 829 of June 10, 2020, through which the government facilitates access to tax benefits for investments in projects from non-renewable sources. conventional energy (FNCE). This decree allows small companies or people that use or generate renewable energy to access the tax benefits of Law 1715 of 2014. These benefits, together with the regional initiatives in Medellín, show us that the government is seriously betting on the renewable energy sources. Although it is clear that replacing oil with renewable energy sources will not be easy, the initiatives that are being carried out in Medellín allow us to be optimistic and contribute to the projects developed for this purpose.
By Felipe Arango, student at the Gómez-Pinzón Abogados Seed Plan.
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1 https://sostenibilidad.semana.com/medio-ambiente/articulo/muertes-por-contaminacion -del-air-they-cost-medellin-5-billion-pesos-in-just-one-year / 43332
2 https://www.epm.com.co/site/la-energia-solar-llega-a-los-hogares -and-Colombian-SMEs-with-the-solution-solar-integral-de-epm
3 https://telemedellin.tv/metro-de-medellin-trabajaria-completil-con-energias-renovables-en-2021/370826/
4 https://www.metrodemedellin.gov.co/al-d%C3%ADa/noticias-metro/artmid/6905/articleid/1212/el-metro-de-medell237n-inici243-la-instalaci243n -of-photovoltaic-solar-panels-in-various-stations-of-the-system-to-advance-in-the-implementation-of-clean-energy
5 https://www.celsia.com/es/press-room/Celsia-alcanza-un-hito-relevante-en-energ237a-renovables-ya-suma-100- MW-de-energ237a-solar-en-Colombia-y-Centroam233rica #: ~: text = With% 20300.000% 20panels% 20solares% 20en, from% 2054.000% 20homes% 20al% 20a% C3% B1o.
6 https://www.dinero.com/inversionistas/articulo/inversiones-de-celsia-en-energias-renovables/292902
7 https://www.dinero.com/inversionistas/articulo/inversiones-de-celsia-en-energias-renovables/292902
8 https://www.pv-magazine-latam.com/2020/02/26/celsia-proyecta-construir-en-colombia-600-mw- renewable-until-2025 /