Focus: Colombia's potential renewables boom short circuits on Indigenous resistance

AES

15/08/2023 13:00

By Nelson Bocanegra
       BOGOTA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - In May, a forum bringing
together leaders debating wind and solar development in
Colombia's La Guajira province was disrupted by a chorus of
passionate opposition. 
    "La Guajira is not for sale!" exclaimed one attendee, a
member of the area's Wayuu Indigenous community, who led the
chant with others as the then-energy minister and local
officials looked on.
    The protest at the University of La Guajira event
illustrates the challenges for over a dozen multinationals and
the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro, as they seek
to turn Colombia away from oil and coal even as a nascent
renewables industry faces environmental licensing delays and
determined opposition by some Wayuu communities.
    More than 50 possible wind and solar projects by companies,
including EDP Renewables  EDPR.LS , Energi, Brookfield Asset
Management  BAM.TO , AES  AES.N  and Enerfin have been announced
in Colombia since 2019, with planned generation of 2.43
gigawatts in wind energy and 0.1 gigawatts in solar.
    Though many were meant to be operating this year or last,
none are. The companies did not respond to questions.
    The tensions come as drought brought by the El Nino weather
phenomenon looks set to deplete the production capacity of the
hydropower-dependent country, leading to possible shortages and
higher charges.
    La Guajira - a coastal desert province in Colombia's far
northeast - offers high-velocity wind, with few natural
obstacles to turbines, as well as an often-blazing equatorial
sun.
    Some companies - including Italy's Enel  ENEI.MI  - have
indefinitely delayed projects, blaming local protests for
hampering billions in investments.
    A week-long visit by Petro and his cabinet to the
traditionally poor province in late June failed to convince many
Wayuu community members, who say companies and officials are not
considering how proposed projects could affect their spiritual
traditions, livelihoods and property rights - as well as the
environment.
    "They are projects done behind the backs of the community,"
said Jose Silva, the director of Nacion Wayuu, a group of 600
Wayuu leaders.
    "Authorities, politicians and businessmen sit down to
negotiate, not the ancestral owners of the land," he said.
    Petro has promised to ensure communities benefit from
projects and in some cases even participate in running them.
        Silva said his group did not manage to meet with Petro
and his cabinet during the visit but that those Wayuu who did
were left with "more doubts than certainties."
    Enel indefinitely halted construction of its Windpeshi wind
park, which was to generate enough energy to power 500,000
homes, in May because of protests it said caused three years of
delays and cost overruns of more than $250 million. 
    Members of a Wayuu group blocked roads, preventing workers
from accessing the project for about half of the last three
years, Enel said.
    But Wayuu groups say they have no choice but to use
blockades to stop projects on their lands that they have not
approved and that protests are the result of a lack of
communication.
    "We have managed to unblock some and we want to move all of
them ahead," said Petro in July, though he said a goal to bring
6 gigawatts of renewable production online during his term
"could have difficulties."
    Denmark's ambassador to Colombia Erik Hoeg told Reuters
there was "considerable interest" from Danish companies and
others from Europe but added: "We are waiting a bit in some
cases for clear regulation, for example for offshore wind."
    Dialogue must take place with Indigenous communities, Hoeg
said, and Colombia should not lose the chance to become an
exporter of renewable energy.
        
  
    REGIONAL CONFLICTS GROW
    The situation in La Guajira echoes challenges in Chile,
where Indigenous communities are resisting lithium developments,
and Mexico, where dozens of projects in wind, solar and other
renewables are awaiting environmental permitting.
    Wayuu community members say construction threatens trees and
wildlife and has damaged grazing areas for hundreds of goats,
killing off a top human food source, and violated sacred
territory where their ancestors are buried.
    Conflicts over projects have caused at least 10 deaths in
the communities he represents, Silva added, as fraudulent
landowners negotiate with companies instead of actual property
holders, sparking violence.
    Joanna Barney, a researcher at non-governmental organization
Indepaz said she was aware of the deaths associated with
conflicts over renewables projects.
    Renewables - even if ostensibly more
environmentally-friendly - are facing hurdles similar to those
confronted by oil and mining companies, long Colombia's top
sources of income.
    Problems with environmental licensing have also stopped
projects debuting on expected timelines, said Alexandra
Hernandez, president of the Colombian Renewable Energy
Association (SER).
    Licenses for two wind farms belonging to Portugal's EDP
Renewables were denied by Colombia's environmental authority
because it said the company failed to identify potential impacts
in each area of the project, including road access, and failed
to properly demarcate protected zones.
    Wind and solar provide less than 1% - about 300 megawatts -
of Colombia's current energy generation. Hydroelectric
generation accounts for 70%.
    Planned renewable projects could eventually produce 20,000
megawatts, enough electricity for 11 million people, nearly a
fourth of the population, says SER, which represents more than
90 companies.
    Each megawatt would require between $700,000 and $1 million
in investment by companies, taking potential spending on
renewables to up to $20 billion nationally. About 65% have
pending legal processes and some have been delayed for years.
    "The projects aren't operating and it doesn't seem like they
will start in the next two years," said Alejandro Lucio of
Optima Consultores, which advises renewables companies.
"Investors are tired of waiting."
     

 (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra
Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb
Editing by Christian Plumb and Julia Symmes Cobb)
 ((julia.cobb@thomsonreuters.com; +57-316-389-7187;))