Assessing the obstacles to the participation of renewable energy sources in the electricity market of Colombia

This paper presents an assessment of the obstacles to the development of non-conventional renewable energy sources in Colombia. In the study, eleven barriers were included in three clusters: technical, social and economic. These barriers obstruct renewable energy sources from contributing to the electricity market in Colombia, mainly in its non-interconnected areas. The energy sources analysed are solar photovoltaic power, wind power, biomass, geothermal and small hydroelectric power (less than 20 MW electricity). Obstacles and energy alternatives are included in an assessment model by means of Analytical Network Process. The method permits ranking the barriers and energy sources according to their influence in the network. That means, the more conflictive the obstacles and the more obstructed the energy sources, the higher their values. Four experts participated in the procedure representing different stakeholders in the electricity market of Colombia. The research showed the most important barriers are costs of investment and operating, lack of public and private coordination and lack of development planning for renewable energy sources. The most influenced (hindered by barriers) sources are wind power and geothermal power. However, the experts did not fully agree on those results and differences are discussed. The paper ends with some recommendations for overcoming the main obstacles against the participation of renewable energy sources in the Colombian electricity market.