Ecopetrol Group announces new solar park in Meta
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Ecopetrol Group announces new solar park in Meta
Jan 6, 2021
- It will supply power for the next 15 years to the pumping stations of San Fernando and Apiay, as well as to the Castilla, Chichimene and Acacías fields.
- The solar park that will be owned by Cenit, the hydrocarbon transport subsidiary of Ecopetrol Group, will go into operation at the end of 2020.
- Ecopetrol Group plans the construction of at least 5 additional solar parks in the next 2 years in Meta, Santander, Huila and Antioquia.
Ecopetrol Group announced today the construction of a new solar park, which will be the property of Cenit, its subsidiary transport and logistics of hydrocarbons, which will become the largest center of self-generation of energy that has been developed in the country, then the Castilla Solar Park, which was opened in October 2019.
With the construction of this new park, the installed capacity of photovoltaic energy of Ecopetrol Group, will exceed 70 megawatts (MWp) in less than two years.
The new park will be located in the municipality of Castilla La Nueva in the Department of Meta. Its construction will begin in the middle of this year and is estimated to go into operation in December.
It will have an installed power of 50 megawatts (MWp), more than double the capacity of the Castilla Solar Park, which is equivalent to what is needed to energize a city of 65,000 inhabitants.
This project will serve to self-supply part of the energy demand of the pumping stations of San Fernando and Apiay, as well as the oil fields of Castilla, Chichimene and Apiay, located in the Eastern Plains.
The park will be located on an extension of 46 hectares, equivalent to 40 professional football fields, where more than 100 thousand panels of the highest technology will be located.
Its entry into operation will prevent the emission of more than 410 thousand tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere over the next 15 years, a figure that is equivalent to the planting of 3.2 million trees.
"This is a new sign of our commitment to the energy transition and the direction of the company of all Colombians towards renewable energies and the mitigation of the effects of climate change, " said Felipe Bayón, president of Ecopetrol.
For his part, Héctor Manosalva, President of Cenit, said that “this initiative will allow to advance along the path of energy efficiency of the transport segment of Ecopetrol Group taking advantage of the great potential offered by solar energy in regions such as the Eastern Plains”.
