The Colombian Ministry of Mines and Energy has received bids totalling 1,500 MW from 27 companies intending to participate in the country's first-ever renewable energy auction, which was launched in January 2019. 15 companies have presented 22 projects in total, of which 17 are solar, 4 wind and one biomass, while 12 are interested in purchasing, distributing and reselling renewable power generation. The government will announce the results by the end of February 2019. The projects selected in the auction shall be commissioned before December 2021. The winners will be awarded 12-year power supply contracts.
As of 2018, about 70% of Colombia's power generation capacity stems from hydropower plants while the remainder entails mostly thermal assets. The auction will seek to award 1,183 GWh/year of long-term annual average energy contracts of 12 years and fits into the government's plan to source 1.5 GW of renewable energy by 2022. Under its Ideario Energetico 2050 policy issued in 2015, the government aims to reach at least 474 MW of wind energy capacity addition, 143 MW of solar, 275 MW of geothermal and 314 MW of cogeneration with biomass (a total of 1,207 MW in renewable energy capacity addition by 2028).