Colombian energy consumption
Colombian energy consumption has evolved significantly over the years, transitioning from reliance on traditional sources like firewood to a more diverse energy portfolio. Historically, firewood was the primary energy source during colonial times, particularly for industries like sugar refining. As firewood became scarce, coal and bagasse emerged as alternative energy sources in the late 19th century. Electricity first made its debut in Colombia in 1889, with coal as the initial power source, but hydroelectricity began to dominate by the mid-20th century due to its reliability and public interest designation in 1928. Today, hydroelectric power accounts for nearly 70% of the nation's electricity generation.
Colombia is also notable for its coal production, being the second-largest producer in South America, with a significant portion exported, especially to the United States and Europe. The energy sector has seen significant reforms since the 1990s, encouraging private and foreign investment, particularly in oil and coal. Wind energy is emerging as a new frontier, with the potential for substantial growth, especially in regions like the Guajira Peninsula. Furthermore, efforts are ongoing to harness biomass for energy production. In 2022, Colombia generated approximately 18.9 million gigawatt-hours of electricity, with a total consumption of about 80.9 billion kilowatt-hours, reflecting a complex interplay of traditional and renewable energy sources.
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Colombian energy consumption
Official Name: Republic of Colombia.
Summary: Colombia is the second-largest coal producer in South America and the fourth-largest coal exporter in the world. The country has been moving away from the use of fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources, in particular hydroelectricity.
During colonial times, the main energy source in Colombia was firewood, used primarily in the sugar refineries, salt mines, and the manufacture of pottery. Throughout the nineteenth century, as firewood became scarce, coal and bagasse (biofuel derived from sugarcane) began to replace it in the nation’s incipient modern industries after 1850.
Electricity was first introduced for public lighting in the Colombian capital of Bogotá by the Bogotá Electric Light Company in December 1889. Power was initially generated by coal, but because it was not of good quality, the service was rather irregular. As a consequence, in 1900, the Samper Brush & CIA company (after 1904, Compañía de Energía Eléctrica de Bogotá, or EEB), created four years earlier, built a hydroelectric power plant, then a more reliable source for power generation, and displaced the Bogotá Electric Light Company.
Between the 1890s and the 1920s, electricity was also introduced under municipal initiative in the country’s second-largest city, Medellín, as well as in other important cities and, with the participation of the regional government, in the department of Norte de Santander in the region bordering Venezuela. Toward the end of the 1940s, most utilities were owned by the state; nevertheless, as most of the country lacked access to electricity, in 1946 the national government created the Instituto de Aprovechamiento de Aguas y Fomento Eléctrico (later named the Instituto Colombiano de Energía Eléctrica, or ICEL) in order to improve the country’s electrification rate. ICEL created, in turn, sixteen regional power utilities, which were under its control and provided power in their respective regions.
In 1928, hydroelectricity was declared of public interest; however, it was only after World War II, and especially in the 1970s, that hydroelectricity began an explosive development, mostly financed by multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Hydroelectricity accounted for nearly 70 percent of Colombia’s generated electricity in 2022.
Exploitation of coal mines began in the nineteenth century in several Colombian regions, initially for energy to be used in the salt mines and, after the second half of the century, for railways, navigation, and manufacturing. In the first third of the twentieth century, coal also began to be used for electricity generation and, for a short period, even for export, yet in the 1930s production declined. In the 1970s, driven by oil price shocks, the country began to exploit its huge coal reserves massively, and by the early twenty-first century, most production was being exported to the United States, Europe, and other Latin American nations, since large portions of the reserves are situated on the Caribbean coast. Colombia consumes very little coal domestically; 85 percent of the coal produced in 2015 was exported.
Oil production started in the 1910s and 1920s, initially only by Colombian investors. After the 1930s, however, foreign capital, mainly from the United States, became dominant in the Colombian oil industry. In 1948, the Colombian government created the state-owned Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos, or Ecopetrol, which assumed and administered oil concessions that had reverted to the state and thereby became dominant in the Colombian oil industry, although not excluding foreign partners.
Because of high foreign indebtedness, the Colombian government decided during the 1990s to carry out structural reforms in the energy sector in order to encourage free competition, private participation, and foreign investments. Thus, coal was completely privatized in 2004. In the electricity sector, the generation, transmission, and distribution of power were separated, and a power wholesale market was created, where electricity can be freely traded to big consumers. In the oil and gas sector, foreign investments were allowed, and Ecopetrol was forced to compete on equal conditions with private operators. Colombia exported 60.923 million metric tons of coal in 2022.
In 2004, Colombia began full commercial operation of its first wind farm at Jepírachi, on the Guajira Peninsula. As of 2021, the enormous wind farm with 2,500 turbines was the only one in the country, but nearly 60 more wind-energy projects had been proposed and were awaiting government approval. The Colombian government believes the Guajira Peninsula could generate 17 percent of Columbia's electricity by 2031. In addition, researchers and investors have been studying the best way to take advantage of Colombia's huge biomass potential, both to generate power and to produce biofuels. In 2022, Colombia generated 18.896 million kilowatt gigawatt-hours of electricity and consumed 80.925 billion kilowatt-hours. Of this, 2.6 percent was generated by biomass.
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