Local subsidiaries of international energy companies Engie and Canadian Solar have been among the bidders in a tender for battery storage systems in Colombia.
In what is the Latin American country’s first tender for storage, the government Ministry of Mines and Energy’s Energy Mining Planning Unit (UPME) is seeking interested stakeholders including investors and auditors for the design, procurement, construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) for an electrical storage system in Colombia’s Atlantic region as well as associated infrastructure.
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The system would be about 45MW and would be located within a 105 square metre area at a substation site in the city of Baranquilla, helping to boost local electricity network reliability. Bids had to be received by the ministry by 19 June. UPME said last week that of a total 10 bids received, seven companies had presented “serious” bids that could be considered.
UPME’s director of electric power hosted an online briefing streamed via YouTube to offer an update on the process. The seven bids considered serious came from a mix of local and international players, including Colombia-headquartered vertically-integrated energy company Genser Power, digital infrastructure group Celsia, German wind power company ABO Wind, French energy company Engie and vertically-integrated solar PV company Canadian Solar.
Further updates are expected in the next few weeks, with UPME posting information on its website here and the national energy and gas regulator CREG setting maximum tariff levels.