Please find below an update of relevant considerations regarding Calls for Public Bids in Renewable energy matters in Latin America.

Colombia

On Sept. 29, 2020, President Iván Duque Martínez held the official presentation ceremony of companies Afinia and Air-e as two new electric power operators in the Caribbean region.

On Nov. 25, 2020, the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá declared Public Tenders No. TMSA-LP-03-2020 and TMSA-LP-04-2020 partially void. The purpose of these tenders is to award concession contracts for the exploitation of the public service of electric terrestrial, automotive, urban, mass passenger transport of the Integrated Public Transport System.

On Dec. 16, 2020, the Vice Minister of Energy of Colombia, Miguel Lotero, announced the dates of the award schedule for the new renewable energy call for bid for 2021. The auction rules will be announced in June 2021, and the awarding date will be in October 2021. This call for bids will benefit users who are not yet connected to the National Interconnected System.

Transcaribe, the company in charge of the transportation system in Cartagena, is considering the incorporation of electric units. A call for bids is expected the coming months.

Argentina

Chinese company Goldwind will put five wind farms in Argentina into operation in the next two months.

In December 2020 the Miramar Wind Farm was inaugurated. This power plant with 98.6 MW of installed capacity will generate energy equivalent for the consumption of approximately 29,500 people.

Ecuador

In December 2020, a long-term concession contract was granted to Solarparck for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the photovoltaic solar project El Aromo, which will generate around 340 GWh per year and is expected to begin operations by the end of 2022.

El Aromo will have an installed capacity of 200 MW, and the concession will be granted for a term of 20 years (including the term for the construction).

Consortium Cobra Zero-E was awarded the Villonaco II and III wind project, which will be developed in the province of Loja. This project will have a capacity of 110 MW.

Chile

On Sept. 24, 2020, the Ministry of Energy published in the Official Gazette the Distributed Generation Regulation for self-consumption introducing several improvements to the sector and establishing rules to allow efficient and sustainable development of large-scale projects.

The Regulation allows for the injection of energy with jointly owned equipment for users to coordinate and install a single generation system to benefit from the surplus for it to be deducted from the coordinated users’ bills. The regulation entered into force Nov. 6, 2020.

The German Minister of Economy and Energy, Peter Altmaier, informed in early December that a loan for 8.23 million euros was approved for the green hydrogen project “Haru Oni,” which will be installed in Magallanes.