Policy Brief / 2021-10-19

Barriers to distributed solar power in Colombia

Andrea Ruíz López, Felipe Corral, Pao-Yu Oei, Claudia Kemfert, Carlos Yepes, Sandra Rendón

In 2021, we find ourselves in the midst of profound social, economic, ecological and technological upheavals that may define the future of humanity. Not only are we facing the worst pandemic and the worst global economic crisis in nearly a century, but we are also confronted with a steady increase in inequality and the social conflicts it generates, as well as the dangerous advance of a climate crisis that is already causing socioecological and socioenvironmental ravages (IPCC, 2018; IPCC, 2021). The fight against this last phenomenon, which is transversal to and closely related to all the others, is already clear that it requires a frontal fight against the extraction, transformation and use of all fossil fuels, as soon as possible. ThisreportfocusesontheColombianelectricitysystemandtherolethatanalternativeelectricity generation, the Distributed Generation of Solar Photovoltaic Energy (DFV), can play in bringing Colombia closer to decarbonization in line with its climate commitments to the Paris Agreements. Inaddition,itstudiesthistechnologyasanalternativethatcanreduceenergycostsandstrengthen the stability of the grid as well as the country’s economy in a relatively short period of time. Regarding DFV, the UPME records that by July 2021 there were approximately 34.2 MW of ins- talled capacity in operation (UPME, 2021). Considering that Colombia has an enormous technical and economic potential for solar energy, it can be said without problem that there is much to ad- vance in this sector. In fact, Colombia is part of a small group of countries that could cover all its energy needs using less than 0.1% of its area to install solar and wind energy (Carbontracker, 2021). In this regard, although legal instruments such as Law 1715 of 2014 and Resolution 030 of 2018 of the CREG have come a long way in terms of regulating the sector, there are many indications that suggest that the massive deployment of this technology faces major barriers. Thesteadilyincreasingcompetitivenessofrenewables,coupledwiththeirmodularity,rapidsca- labilityandjobcreationpotential,makethesetechnologiesanddistributedgenerationveryattrac- tive for democratizing the energy system. The cost of electricity generated from solar PV recorded a decline of 82% between 2010 and 2019, mainly due to a 90% reduction in panel prices along with lower balance-of-system costs and an improved supply chain (IRENA, 2021b). Aiming to contribute to the development of the DFV, as well as to the acceleration of the transition to a less fossil-fueled, more decentralized electricity system, as well as resilient to extre- me weather patterns, this research set out to identify the main barriers to greater deployment of distributed solar power, as well as possible ways to overcome them. Our study is based on a desk reviewofthestateoftheartindistributedsolarenergyandrenewableenergyresearch,aswellasa combination of in-depth interviews with industry experts and responses from different organizations to a questionnaire on the barriers they see facing distributed solar energy.
Logo DAAD
(Spanish) Barreras GD Energía Solar en Colombia (ES)
7 MB
Geographic Scope
Colombia
Language
English and Spanish
Publishing Institution
DIW Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, Europa Universität Flensburg, Centro de Ciencia y Sensibilización Ambiental
Topic
Sustainability
Category
Originals
Keywords
solar energy
distributed generation
barriers
grid
decarbonization
Research Group
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