Enel Green Power planned to participate in Colombia 's latest long-term energy auction with a project whose energy volume was equivalent to 500% of the total energy offered , as revealed by Antonio Crisol , Head of Colombia for the company, during the Future Energy Summit (FES) Colombia 2026.
The initiative, which represented a major commitment to energy storage, ultimately could not be incorporated into the process due to competition restrictions established in the contracting mechanism.
"In the last auction we wanted to go with a new battery of truly industrial scale and we couldn't. We couldn't because of the competition rules that limited it," Crisol revealed.
The executive stated that the proposal had a considerable dimension compared to the energy volume available in the storage segment of the call for bids, although he did not specify the installed power or the planned storage capacity for the infrastructure.
"The battery that we wanted to install in the country from this auction was actually 500% of the total energy that was being offered (we were five times more than all the rest)," said the Enel representative.
According to the auction results, released by Energía Estratégica , the process allowed for the contracting of 4564 MWh-day between Products 2 and 3, while Products 1 and 4 ended without allocations.
In particular, Product 4 was not awarded due to the regulatory concentration limit of 40% , provided for in CREG Resolution 101 109 of 2026.
According to the results published by the Colombian Mercantile Exchange (BMC), the optimization algorithm found a technically feasible solution, but it exceeded the competition threshold allowed by the regulation.
This occurred despite the fact that the segment had nine buyers and four sellers authorized, although the number of authorized participants does not necessarily coincide with the economic offers actually submitted.
The situation coincides with one of the main questions raised by Crisol, who points out that in Product 4 there were only two bidders and that the regulatory conditions limited the company's participation.
"It's a shame we missed this opportunity," the executive said, referring to the possibility of incorporating the storage infrastructure into the Colombian system.
The result is particularly significant given the demand for flexibility solutions that the call for tenders revealed. In Product 3, intended for solar projects with storage, buyers requested 9,421 MWh/day, compared to just 747 MWh/day offered by sellers .
Thus, buyer interest exceeded the available supply by 12.6 times and only 390 MWh-day were awarded, equivalent to just over 4% of the volume demanded.
This segment allocated 270 MW of solar power accompanied by 100 MW of battery storage, at a weighted average price of 315.87 Colombian pesos per kWh.
Product 2, meanwhile, awarded 725 MW of photovoltaic capacity and 4,174 MWh/day, at a price of 246.13 Colombian pesos per kWh. The difference between the two prices reached 28.3%, even though the products have different attributes.
The data reflect the commercial interest in incorporating storage into the electricity system and allow us to understand the context in which Enel had prepared its proposal.
However, the power of the megabattery projected by Enel cannot be determined from the 500% comparison , since Crisol refers to energy offered and does not communicate the specific capacity of the system in MW or MWh.
Enel is betting on long-term auctions and plans to maintain its investments in Colombia
"Without a doubt, long-term auctions are necessary in Colombia. It's true that the private market has grown a lot, but I would say that they are not substitutes for each other, they are quite complementary," the executive stated.
The executive believes that auctions offer longer contracting horizons than private power purchase agreements (PPAs) , allowing developers to reduce their commercial exposure and improve financing conditions.
"A long-term auction gives you 20 or 30 years, which is difficult to achieve with a private PPA," he explained.
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Although the latest Colombian call for proposals established 15-year contracts, Crisol argues that longer-term contracting mechanisms are especially relevant for capital-intensive projects.
"I would really say that they are absolutely necessary because, in addition to developers and investors, we are talking about them reducing commercial risk and also facilitating financing," he added.
This stance is linked to the multinational's presence in the Colombian energy market. According to data presented during FES Colombia 2026, Enel has over 4,000 MW of installed capacity distributed across 17 power plants , including hydroelectric and solar generation.
This infrastructure represents approximately 19% to 20% of the country's capacity and energy, according to figures presented by the executive.
Furthermore, Crisol highlights that during 2025 the company added 380 MW of alternating current capacity , a proportion that it considers significant within the new facilities put into service in the national market.
"Colombia is one of Enel's six main countries. We have been investing approximately one trillion pesos annually in generation, distribution, and commercial operations in recent years, and we intend to continue this trend in the new industrial plan," Crisol noted.
However, to guarantee the execution of new investments, the multinational's representative demands stable regulatory conditions and planning that transcends government terms.
Environmental licensing and transmission: other challenges identified by Enel
Another point addressed by Crisol during FES Colombia 2026 is the uncertainty associated with the environmental licensing of energy projects.
The executive questioned the addition of new obligations regarding previously granted environmental permits , a situation which, he explained, creates difficulties in planning investments and communicating regulatory risks to the company's parent company.
For reference, compare Colombian regulatory conditions with those observed in European markets where Enel also operates.
"In Europe, in Spain or Italy, they grant you an environmental license —which there is called integrated environmental authorization— for 10 years and you have a stable framework to know where you are playing," Crisol explained.
The multinational's representative argues that predictability is crucial for mobilizing private capital towards generation, storage and electrical grid infrastructure.
"What a private investor in Enel, and any of you, really wants to avoid is risk and unpredictability," he emphasized.
Adding to this problem is the need to accelerate transmission works, a component that is considered fundamental to ensuring that generation projects effectively reach commercial operation.
In that regard, Crisol is calling for greater speed between decision-making and the commissioning of new power plants and lines , along with long-term sectoral planning.
As a concrete proposal, it suggests that the National Government select between 10 and 20 priority generation and transmission projects, through a consultation process with market operators.
"I'm going to ask the Government for just one thing, and in fact we've already asked them: that they choose a set of projects by listening to the operators, 10 or 20, no more, between transmission and generation, and that the Government monitor these projects every two or three months to ensure deadlines, to ensure that these projects are operational when the country needs them, and to follow a prioritization of projects," the executive proposed.
The initiative would allow for the concentration of institutional monitoring on infrastructure considered strategic, with review instances every two or three months to verify the progress of the schedules.
The proposal gains relevance after an auction that has already committed new solar capacity and storage, but whose projects will have to go through the stages of financing, licensing, construction and connection before the contractual start planned for 2030.
In this way, Enel maintains its commitment to the Colombian market and raises the need to combine new auctions, predictable regulatory rules and greater execution capacity to facilitate the incorporation of energy infrastructure.
The mega battery that the multinational sought to present is one of the examples presented by Crisol regarding the investment potential existing in the country and the conditions that, from a business perspective, must be reviewed to enable larger-scale projects.
By Florencia Guglielmetti
By Matías Medinilla
By Emilia Lardizabal
By Energía Estratégica
