BOGOTA, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Colombia’s first-ever bidding round to license maritime blocks for offshore wind farms has been delayed, the ministry of mines and energy said.
The ministry continues to work on finalizing the tender documents alongside other government bodies, it said in a statement posted to its website on Tuesday. It did not give a date for when the documents would be ready or when the bidding round would take place.
The government of leftist President Gustavo Petro has set its sights on weaning the South American country from its dependence on fossil fuels – major sources of income for Colombia – in favor of greener renewable energy.
In July, the ministry – then led by ex-Minister Irene Velez – said in a statement that tender documents for the bidding round would be ready in August.
Velez stood down in July amid investigations into the possible crime of influence peddling, and was replaced by Andres Camacho at the start of August.
The ministry, the Maritime Directorate and the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) regulator are “working together to build the tender documents and specific conditions for the first round for allocating temporary permits over maritime areas for the development of offshore wind projects in Colombia,” Tuesday’s statement said.
Some 90% of the tender documents were created during the first half of the year, the statement added.
The ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the cause for the delay in publishing the tender documents.
Source : reuters
