Colombia. The La Loma solar park, a project of Enel Green Power, Enel Colombia's business line, is located in the department of Cesar and will have an installed capacity of 187 megawatts in direct current (MWdc), thanks to the more than 400 thousand panels that will be interconnected on the land of 427 hectares.
"For us it is very gratifying to announce that, after a year in construction, the La Loma solar project presents an advance close to 70%. To date we have installed approximately 121,300 solar panels, a task that has been possible as a result of the excellent work of more than 700 people committed to carrying out this great project. In addition, we are proud to have about 120 women to whom we have not only given the opportunity to work, but they have been the ones who have allowed us to demonstrate that in this sector there is room for everyone and that gender equity has no limitations in this type of projects, "said Lucio Rubio Díaz, CEO of Enel Colombia.
With an investment of approximately $126 million dollars, La Loma is currently the largest photovoltaic park under construction in Colombia and represents a great contribution to the energy transition process. Once in operation, it will produce 420 GWh/year of energy for a period of 20 years and will be able to meet the needs of approximately 370,000 citizens.
"This is the largest solar project the country has to date, which shows that when there are regulatory conditions dreams can be fulfilled. In these almost four years of Government, with a robust Development Plan that put better incentives, we will close this year with 2,800 MWp of renewable energies throughout the national territory. Enel alone will have almost 1,000 MW installed by the end of 2023. El Cesar became the department of solar energy in Colombia," said The President of the Republic, Iván Duque Márquez.
The President of the Republic, Iván Duque Márquez, and the Minister of Mines and Energy, Diego Mesa Puyo, visited the La Loma solar park; as guests, the governor (e) of Cesar, Andrés Mesa Araújo, and the mayor of El Paso, Andry Aragon Villalobos, also attended.
The Minister of Mines and Energy, Diego Mesa Puyo, added that "Cesar is one of the protagonists of the energy transition and when the construction of La Loma is completed, the department will become the first producer of renewable energy in the country with more than 273 MWp that represent the consumption of 183,000 homes and will help with the reduction of 309,000 tons of CO2 per year. Thanks to the government's articulated work with the private sector, companies like Enel trust and see Colombia as one of the greatest investment attractions to carry out renewable energy projects that improve the quality of life of all Colombians."
Among the great milestones of the project, the testing stage stands out, which began on February 28 with the injection of the first kilowatt hour of energy (kWh) to the National Interconnected System (SIN). For this, it was necessary to energize the connection bay in the La Loma substation and its corresponding transmission line, as well as the elevator transformer in the Matepalma substation. This last equipment of 147 tons was imported from China and transported by the Magdalena River until disembarking in the municipality of Plato, where it was later transferred by land until it reached the corregimiento of La Loma.
