Jacqueline Echevarria, Argus Media

BOGOTA
EnergiesNet.com 09 20 2023

Colombia and Panama have joined the UK, Canada and 46 other countries in pledging to phase out unabated coal-fired power generation by 2030.

The two countries have committed to halting the construction of new unabated coal-fired power plants and to close existing ones, as part of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA).

Colombia, one the world’s largest coal exporters globally, has around 1.6GW of available coal-fired power capacity, accounting for 10pc of its generation mix in August, with renewables accounting for 77pc.

The Colombian government will work with the alliance to develop a phase out program that protects the country’s mining communities, PPCA said Tuesday.

“As coal power is on the way to becoming a thing of the past, we are working to reduce the economy’s reliance on coal,” Colombia minister of mines and energy Omar Andres Camacho said. “We are diversifying exports, expanding the production of renewable energy and planning for a just transition of affected communities.”

Panama aims to have 90pc of electricity generation coming from renewables by 2030, up from 80pc currently, Panama energy secretary Jorge Rivera Staff said. The share of coal-fired generation was cut to 0.6pc last year, down from 9pc in 2019.

“We are focusing on the development of wind and solar,” Rivera said at a PPCA event in New York City.

Renewable developers who want to build a project in Panama with a capacity of 20MW or less, are exempt from paying transmission and distribution charges.

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Chile are other Latin American countries that are part of PPCA.

In addition to national governments, PPCA members include 49 local governments, including California and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, as well as 70 companies and other organizations.

argusmedia.com 09 19 2023