At the same time that the Colectora transmission project is being developed, which will take the energy from the wind plants in La Guajira to the National Interconnected System (SIN), transmission projects are also being carried out. connection networks that will join the initiatives of clean sources with this main line and that will be part of the National Transmission System (STN).
(Read: La Loma solar park delivers the first kilowatt hour of energy).
Thus, the 16 renewable generation projects, which are located in the municipalities of Uribia, Maicao and Riohachawould converge with their respective lines to the Cuestecitas substation, and from there starts the Nueva Cuestecitas expansion work by ISA.
Although most of the alternate connection lines that would join Colectora are currently undergoing their licensing process, their final layout would derive from the results of prior consultations with the communities.
According to the latest Electricity Transmission Expansion Plan of Upme, to the Collecting line whose capacity is 500 kilovolts (Kv)these 110 Kv networks will be joined, and that in total there would be five.
“With regard to the connection lines between the plant and the granted connection point (main substation), in most cases, they are initiating procedures for environmental diagnosis of alternatives or requesting certification of the presence of communities or developing prior consultations, This is the case of all the projects in La Guajira”, highlights a working document from the Subdirectorate of Electric Power of the Upme.
Plants with line
In the case of the three wind projects developed by the Enel company: Chemesky, Tumawind and Windpeshi; their spokespersons explained to this newspaper that the assembly of non-conventional renewable energy initiatives conceive the connection to the collector line that is part of the SIN.
Thus, the first two plants will do it directly, and in the third, its line It borders the border with Venezuela and reaches the Cuestecitas substation.
For its part, the recently inaugurated Guajira I wind farm, developed by Isagen, has its connection line that also reaches Cuestecitas to join the ISA line (Nueva Cuestecitas).
(What’s more: Government inspects development of Helios I solar farm).
“La Guajira offers us wind speeds that are double the world average, so we hope to be able to generate clean energy on a constant basis, complementing our matrix, mainly water, to be more resilient in the face of climate change.“, explained the general manager of the company Camilo Marulanda.
In the case of Guajira II, an Isagen spokesperson explained to Portafolio that the development of the respective transmission network to the Collector line “is still under evaluation and studies and analysis of the subject are being carried out.”
In the same sense, AES Colombia with its projects Carrizal, Casa Eléctrica, Apotolorru, and Irrapiathey also have programmed within the assembly of each one of the complex networks to take the electrical energy by Collector to the SIN.
collector line
It should be remembered that the assembly development of the Collecting line, which already has the endorsement of 136 communitieswill allow Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB), the conglomerate in charge of the work, to continue developing the work, which would come into operation after mid-2024.
The initiative contemplates the assembly of the Colectora – Cuestecitas 500 kilovolts (kV) line, whose length is 110 kilometers (km), and another Cuestecitas – La Loma, also 500 kV, but with an extension of 250 km.
(What’s more: Creg standard would delay the start of renewable plants).
Likewise, the work projects the assembly of the new Colectora 500 kV substation, and the expansion of the Cuestecitas and La Loma 500 kV substations. And its area of influence covers 14 municipalities in both departments.
The Cuestecitas – Colectora section has undergone 124 protocolized prior consultation processes for a total of 212 certified communities.
With respect to the substations that join each of these sections of the line, the assembly of the bays of the La Loma substation began and for the last quarter of this year the construction of the bays in the Cuestecitas and Colectora substations begins.
BRIEFCASE