$270,000 million from Bogotá are at risk due to the suspension of the Wind Farm in La Guajira

Bogota

The investment of 270,000 million pesos of Bogota residents is at risk due to the suspension of Windpeshi Wind Farm in La Guajira, a project valued at approximately 1 billion pesos. According to Bogotá Comptroller’s Office27% of this investment corresponds to the city’s public resources.

He Comptroller of Bogotá DC, Julián Mauricio Ruiz, made an administrative visit to the wind farm, located between the municipalities of Maicao and Uribia, to inspect the conditions of the suspended project. This procedure was ordered by the Public Services Sector Directorate of the Comptroller’s Office within a Special Inspection Action that evaluates the fiscal management of the project by Enel Colombia SA

Enel Colombia SA, the company in charge of the wind farm, decided to indefinitely suspend construction in May 2023, citing difficulties in maintaining construction rates and increased costs, which could double the initial budget. Until the suspension, The project had only reached 25.5% progress.

“What we have found so far is that, despite an investment of more than 1 billion pesos, the Windpeshi Wind Farm has not generated a single kilowatt of energy,” explained Comptroller Ruiz. ““This indicates that the investment of public resources has not fulfilled its purpose.”

The project began in December 2020 and its progress was affected, according to Enel, by the expectations of local communities and constant interruptions, which resulted in significant delays and additional costs.

“Preliminarily we can say that the functionality has not been met in the investment of resources,” Ruiz concluded. “We are waiting for the results of the audit exercise to “verify what happened to the billion pesos invested in this project.”