Potentiation of the production of wind energy as a source of financing for the drive of the economic sectors of the department of La Guajira

Abstract

The Colombian government opted to construct a variety of wind farms to develop energy efficiency policies and programmes that will aid in the energy-saving project's implementation. The majority of these farms are being established in La Guajira, one of Colombia's poorest districts. The government recently stated that the La Guajira Peninsula may provide 17% of Colombia's electricity by 2031. This region is characterised by a large number of indigenous peoples who have had their lands taken from them or had their territories encroached upon by mining and oil and gas exploration.

On the other hand, renewable energy projects have become a rising source of conflict in the region in recent years, with claims of forced displacement and harm to Indigenous populations' livelihoods. As a result, the goal of this study is to provide a strategy for the Colombian government to strike a balance between development, environmental concerns, and indigenous rights to construct an accurate public policy that would help to alleviate poverty in the region.

Outline of paper sections

Latin America is known for its economic dynamism; countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and other members of the Energy and Climate Alliance of the Americas have already begun the transition to an energy efficient economy (ECPA, 2016), leveraging the region's abundant renewable resources and aiming to improve economic efficiency while reducing energy infrastructure investment.

In Colombia, the energy matrix is gradually diversifying, with renewable energies and other technologies, as well as clean efforts boosted by rules and incentives that will be discussed later in this study (Caquimbo-Medina & Rodríguez-Urrego, 2018). It is vital to note that the country generates enough energy to meet its demand, with the transportation (45%), industrial (22%), and residential (19%) sectors consuming the majority of primary energy resources. The installed capacity is sufficient to meet domestic demand. However, the climatic variability generates a production that may be higher or lower than the necessary, this is why climatic phenomena like El Niño or La Niña produces abundance or shortage of energy. Colombia depends mainly on hydraulic generation, because have the third largest installed hydropower capacity in south America, at about 11725 MW (Ministerio de Minas y Energía and UPME, 2013), which for 2017 represented 80.3% of the total energy generated. In order to cover the Colombian demand in 2017, 66.668 GWh were generated in the country and 194.2GWh were imported, mainly from Ecuador, especially during the dry season (XM-Filial de ISA, 2016). Energy imports fell by 48.7% with respect to 2016, due to the increase in water availability and generation resources during 2017, as well as fuels

and petroleum products. In terms of non-conventional renewable energies, especially wind and solar systems, excluding large hydroelectric plants, the installed capacity is 28.1 MW, with the expectation that these will represent up to 14% of the total generation capacity of energy for 2030 (ICEX, 2017).

It is crucial to highlight that renewable energy has had a fast expansion in recent decades in Colombia. For instance, since 2007, the capacity of renewable energies has doubled, with a progressive yearly growth (Dwyer, 2018). Furthermore, through rules and incentives, Colombia has increasingly diversified its energy grid, encouraging renewable energies and other technologies, as well as sustainable projects (Caquimbo-Medina & Rodríguez-Urrego, 2018). Notably, one of the places where the Colombian government has implemented strategies to develop renewable energies projects has been La Guajira, one of the 32 departments in Colombia, located in the Colombian Caribbean. It is warm, dry, and inhospitable, with temperatures ranging from 28 to 38 degrees Celsius and significant levels of evaporation due to the severity of the winds. All of Colombia's current efforts in developing renewable energy technology could significantly boost the economy of Colombia's rural areas if the Colombian government reaches an agreement with Colombian indigenous communities.

In La Guajira, there is an indigenous community called Wayuu, whose settlement lies in Nazareth, a rural section with about 2,000 people. Basically, given the dearth of research on wind farms in Colombia and the fact that environmental performance is largely overlooked, this community has been a hurdle to improving wind farm projects. Furthermore, this group has said that the government has missed components in wind energy installation studies' life cycle assessments, resulting in severe truncation mistakes and misestimation of results. As a result, indigenous groups predicted that they would be the most brutal hit (Vélez-Henao & Vivanco, 2021; Pomponi & Lenzen, 2018). La Guajira department's installed capacity as of December 2017 was 304.42 MW, with 94 per cent of that being coal and the remaining 6% being a wind turbine installation, resulting in an average output of 1513 GWh between 2012 and 2015 (Carvajal-Romo et al., 2019). However, by 2018, Colombia had an estimated potential of 21 GW wind power only in La Guajira state, but only had 19.5 MW of wind power installed with an efficiency of 28%; therefore, only 0.4% of its theoretical wind energy potential was used (Moya Chavez et al. 2018). Thus, the government decided to install five onshore wind farms in the Guajira region (Vélez-Henao & Vivanco, 2021). However, its renewable energy development depends on government policies, environmental impacts and indigenous consensus. The last is the most crucial, due to it is the mechanism to allow the fast development of wind farms to connect non-interconnected areas. Most areas where the government plans to build wind farms lack access to drinkable water, and energy is only available from diesel fuel to the power plant from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm (Carvajal-Romo et al., 2019).

Thus, the Colombian government must develop strategies to make an agreement with the indigenous community and boost its economy. Although Colombian institutions are structured to promote the development and use of non-conventional energy sources through integration into the electricity market, participation in non- interconnected areas, reduction of glasshouse gas emissions, and energy supply security (Rodríguez-Urrego, D., & Rodríguez-Urrego, 2018.), indigenous integration is lacking in the

national energy system. As a result, indigenous consensus should be promoted through environmental, financial, and other guarantees.

The consensus is the only method that can allow sustainable development of this rural area through wind farms projects. Moreover, it can potentialize La Guajira, one of the poorest states in Colombia, in financial terms that has the potential for wind generation of 18 GW, enough to cover national demand twice (Word Bank, 2021). It, in turn, means more financial resources to be distributed among sustainable projects that enhance indigenous well-being. If the government fails to reach an agreement, the power of Wayuu villages will interrupt present and future wind farm operations and infrastructure. It implies that the Colombian government must carve out a space for responsibility by tying the firm to long-term obligations and negotiating ethical, cultural and social ways of harnessing the wind in Wayuu territory (Schwartz, 2021). The Colombian government has set up a negotiation table with indigenous groups, employing persuasion tactics to save face. Nevertheless, this is not the case in reality.

By contrast, the negotiations have been used to deflect attention because it is following the law. Thus, the indigenous community has been protesting against these projects, claiming their rights and demanding the government to be listened to. Negotiating with the indigenous group raises the question of whether they would allow the government to utilise all of their lands and, if so, what conditions they would impose. The second question is whether the private sector would engage in renewable energy projects that can dramatically reduce utility costs in light of local circumstances. However, several government sectors have come up with a solution to these problems that would help promote the economy of Colombia's rural areas and hold the indigenous people accountable for upholding its cultural, social, and environmental values. It recommends evaluating many criteria to consider indigenous needs, allowing private-sector proposals to be presented to the negotiating table. As a result, the government has the ability to transfer earnings to the former in a similar manner.