Energy company Enel Colombia, one of the companies building one of 16 planned wind projects in La Guajira in the north of the country, announced Wednesday that it will indefinitely suspend construction of the Windpeshi farm. can generate up to 205 megawatts of power. “This decision, taken by the Board of Directors of the company after exhausting the internal corporate authorities, was taken due to the impossibility of guaranteeing the rhythm of construction of the project, due to the constant paths of facts and the high expectations that exceed the scope of action of the organization,” it says in a statement from the company.
In it, they explain that despite investing more than 1,700 million Colombian pesos ($380,000) in projects that benefit communities, due to the blockades, “work has stopped for about 50% of the working days in 2021 and 2022.” and in 2023 so far the figure has increased to 60%.”
In the first few days of May, the company warned that it was examining “all possible scenarios” about the future of the park. Although the project had already received prior consultation and approval from the 12 communities where the wind turbines would be installed, Wayuu indigenous people from surrounding areas had blocked the project on multiple occasions on the grounds that they too should be consulted and compensated in return are to receive presence of the 45 wind towers that the company would build.
Enel’s announcement comes just days after the Ministry of Mines and Energy announced that a consultative table had been set up between that ministry, the Maicao (La Guajira) Department of Indigenous Affairs and the Wayuu Nation organization to discuss the unfolding protests to calm and resolve communities in Romana and Julapa.
However, as América Futura reported in a recent report, not all communities were opposed to the project’s development, particularly those that had agreed to the previous consultation. In Flor de la Frontera, an area bordering Venezuela, several of the compensation agreements signed with Enel received positive reviews. An access road and a micro-aqueduct were built, as well as projects to improve housing, livestock and goat husbandry, and the enclosure of cemeteries. This is despite the fact that the area leaders had also warned that there were things they would like that were left out. “We wanted to be part of the company and have light. But Enel tells us that it is not possible, that it is very expensive to install electricity here, so they give us compensation for the time they spend in our area,” assured Euniris Catherine Ramírez, Wayuu and daughter of the Flor de Flor de border.
The mess of the previous consultations in La Guajira
Newsletter
Analysis of current affairs and the best stories from Colombia, every week in your mailbox
GET THIS
Although La Guajira is considered the epicenter of Colombia’s energy transition, the introduction of wind power projects has exacerbated the already existing conflicts in the area, which primarily involve the Wayuu ethnic community. Studies conducted by Indepaz, as well as complaints filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), have indicated that in many cases the wind power companies do not sign the agreements or conduct prior consultations with the Wayuu owners of the area, but with people who live there , but do not own the land, which has led to an increase in conflicts in the region.
As recently as December, a document signed by 105 Wayuu leaders from different areas of La Guajira and addressed to Mines Minister Irene Vélez called for the repetition of all consultations previously held in the area as part of the energy transition. This in order to be able to organize the area and prevent the wind farms from causing further disputes.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS newsletter on Colombia and receive all the latest information about the country.