• General State of the Economy
• Energy Resources
• Energy Balance
• Energy Infrastructure
• Education and Innovation
• Ecology and Environment Protection
• References

Source: [1,2,3,4,5]

Colombia's economy is mainly focused on the export of energy resources and agricultural products. The level of development of the Colombian economy is reflected in the comparative diagram of various economic indices - Fig.1. In almost all cases, Colombia is placed at the upper part of the diagram. The only exception is the inflation rate, which changed from 7.5% in 2016 to 4.3% in 2017, and to 3.5% in 2019 [3]. Since the early 1990s, the country has experienced a steady growth in GDP at purchasing power parity, both in general and per capita [4,5]. However, GDP at purchasing power parity decreased from  $711.6 billion (31^st in the world) in 2017 to $683.9 in 2020 (32^nd in the world)[3]. The country’s GDP at purchasing power parity per capita is lower (114^th in 2020), demonstrating negative dynamics in the recent years: from $14 400 in 2017 to $13 400 in 2020 [3].
According to The Global Competitiveness Report 2019, presented by the World Economic Forum, the country is placed 57^th, ahead of Peru. In terms of high-tech products export, Colombia is 55^th in the world, behind Costa Rica, but ahead of Chile in the region [3]. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, which is based on freedom of business, freedom from government action, property protection, and freedom from corruption, Colombia was 42^nd in 2018 out of the 180 countries and 49^th in 2021 out of the 178 countries considered, ahead of Mexico. In terms of gold reserves and foreign exchange reserves in 2017 Colombia was 42^nd in the world, ahead of Chile, but behind Argentina. According to the indicator for the average GDP growth in percentage over the last 10 years, in 2020 the country was 91^st out of 206 countries. In terms of public debt, calculated as a percentage of the country's GDP, Colombia was ranked 102^nd out of 210 countries considered in 2017.

Colombia has significant reserves of mineral resources. In addition to large deposits of coal, oil and natural gas, there are shale gas, shale oil, and extra heavy oil reserves. In terms of tonnes of oil equivalent, proved reserves of coal were 89.9%, of the total fossil fuel resources in 2021, oil resources 7.9%, and gas 2.2%. Colombia has the second largest coal reserves in South America behind Brazil, amounting to 5 trillion short tons in 2020 [6].
According to BP [7], total proved coal reserves in the country in 2020 were estimated at 4554 million tonnes. At the beginning of 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration Colombia had about 3 Tcf of natural gas [6].

Table 1. Fossil energy resources of Colombia

*share of the country’s reserves in world total is provided in brackets
**unproved technically recoverable
 

According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency [3] reserves of natural gas in Colombia in 2021 were estimated at 87,782 Bcm. Colombia has the fifth largest reserves of shale gas in South America with 54,7 Tcf [8]. According to [6], oil reserves in Colombia in 2022 were estimated at 1.8 billion barrels; 2.036 and 2.0 billion barrels in 2021 according to other sources [3,7]. Technically recoverable shale (tight) oil are estimated [8] to be 6.8 billion barrels, which is higher than Brazil's stocks, but much less than neighbouring Argentina. According to the calculations of Advanced Energy Technologies, the potential for coal mine methane utilization, according to a methodology based on methane emissions [10] and coal reserves [7], amounted to about 48-122 billion m³. Colombia also has gas hydrates occurrences on the northern shelf of the country (Fig.5).
In Colombia, there is a certain potential for the development of some types of renewable energy. A selection of basic indicators of this type of resource is presented in Table 2.
The level of solar radiation is low (4.9-5.5 kWh/m²/day) and scattered over most of the country. In the northern region, in the Department of La Guajira and the Department of Santander the figure is slightly higher, reaching 6.0 kWh/m²/day [11].
The allocation of wind resources looks similar: in the central part of the country the average annual wind speed is typically less than 5.0 m/sec. However, along the country’s northern coastline with the Caribbean Sea, the average annual wind speed can reach more than 8 m/s [12].
Colombia has a vast network of rivers that includes mountainous and lowland rivers, the largest of which are the Amazon and the Orinoco. Nevertheless, according to [13] Colombia has a small gross theoretical hydro potential — 1000 GWh/year, second to almost most of the countries in the region, but taking into account population density and size of the country, this resource is substantial.

Table 2. Renewable energy resources of Colombia

*for most of the territory of the country
**gross theoretical hydro power potential

Moreover, in coastal areas, there are conditions for utilising the energy of the ocean and sea waves on the Atlantic (10-15 kw/m per year), and on the Pacific coast (<5 kw/m per year) [14]. More than 53% of Colombia is forested, and this is a significant biological resource for the production of energy [16]. It is also worth mentioning the level of municipal waste produced in the country, which can be used for energy production. The level of solid waste generation in Colombia is high — 0.76 kg per person per day [17].

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Sep 2023) / https://www.eia.gov

Figure 2. The production and consumption of fossil fuels in Colombia (left —coal, in the center — gas, right — oil)

In the production of electricity, hydropower dominates all the other sources – Fig. 3. In 2020 hydropower has generated more than about 65.7% of electricity, while the share of fossil fuels accounted for 32.9%. In 2020, Colombia produced 69.74 billion KWh of electricity. Over the past 15 years there have been minor changes in the share ratio between fossil and renewable fuels in electricity production.

The total share of other technologies in the Colombia’s position in the comparative diagram of energy index is shown in Figure 4. The first six indices based on reserves of fossil fuels and export opportunities show Colombia’s distinct advantage over most of the world, especially when it comes to coal. The share of renewable energy in electricity production in Colombia is less than 2%, according to the Central Intelligence Agency, and in 2017 the country was 136^th out of 170 countries selected for consideration.

In the Energy Architecture Performance Index 2017, which is based first on the level economic growth, environmental safety, and energy independence of the country, including access to energy, Colombia is 8^th in the world, ahead of Mexico and Chile.
Colombia is in the top ten of the ranked list of countries for such indicators as GDP per unit of energy use in 2020 — 10^th out of 66 countries considered, while energy consumption per capita is much lower — 58^th out of 66 countries. In terms of electricity consumption per capita, the country is 130^th in the world, however, for the indicator of combination of electricity production-consumption, Colombia is 47^th in the ranked list of 216 countries.

Map of territorial distribution of the largest infrastructure projects of the fossil fuel sector in Colombia is shown in Figure 5.
As previously mentioned, coal is the main fossil fuel resource of Colombia. Major coal deposits are in the north of the country. The largest of those is the Cerrejon mine (37.7 million short tons) (Figure 5). The main gas fields of the country are located in offshore areas and on the mainland, and are located mainly in the north and in the central part of the country. The largest are in the Cusiana and Cupiaga Llanos basins, which are owned by Ecopetrol and Talisman Energy [19].
Similar to the gas industry, oil fields are concentrated in the centre and the north of the country, the largest being the Rubiales Oil Field, located in the department of Meta. According to the Government of Colombia, the reserves of this field are estimated to be 500 million barrels [20]. The oil extracted from this deposit is heavy.
The main brands are Cano Limon Crude (API 29º) and Vasconia Crude Oil (API 24.3º) [21,22]. Around 415 000 barrels of oil are processed every day in Colombia [23]. The major refineries are located in the north of the country. Barrancabermeja Oil Refinery owned by Ecopetrol has an installed capacity of 250 000 barrels / day [24].

Figure 5. Basic infrastructural facilities of Colombia: fossil fuels

The government plans to upgrade the plant and increase its capacity to 300 000 barrels/day, however, according to the company officials, the drop in global oil prices is preventing the implementation of this project [25]. The main oil producer in Colombia is a national company Ecopetrol, and about 70 international companies are present in the Colombian oil market. The largest gas producer is Chevron [20].
It is also worth noting that the first Colombian LNG terminal at Cartagena, with an installed capacity of 500 000 tons/year, started working in 2016 [26]. A floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) «Höegh Grace», owned by the Norwegian company, Höegh LNG, supports the work of the terminal [27].
Figure 6 shows the major sites in Colombia producing electrical energy.
The share of fossil fuels in electricity production in Colombia does not exceed 32.9%. At the same time about 65.7% comes from hydroelectricity and 1.4% of energy from renewable sources (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Electricity production in Colombia

11 hydropower plants have a capacity of over 330 MW, with two hydroelectric plants, San Carlos I and II and Guavio, both with over 1 GW [28].
Gas power plants and combined cycle power plants are also widespread throughout the country. The largest of these is Termobarranquila, with a capacity of 750 MW[29]. There are also 5 coal plants with a capacity of over 100 MW, and the largest of these is Termoguajira station with two blocks of 162 MW each and 168 MW [30].
Figure 7 shows the main objects of Colombian infrastructure for energy production from renewable sources.

Figure 7. Basic infrastructural facilities of Colombia: renewable energy

As noted above, apart from hydro power renewable energy in Colombia has no strong influence on the production of the main types of energy. This is clearly due to the presence of rich deposits of fossil fuels, and partly with resource allocation features of renewable energy across the country.
Thus, the level of solar radiation in the most densely populated areas of Colombia is an average of 4.9-5.5 kWh/m²/day [10]. Wind energy is in similar situation; the average wind speed does not exceed 4.9 m/sec [11]. Nevertheless, Colombia has one wind farm, Jepirachi, with an installed capacity of 19.5 MW in the north, where the wind speed reaches its peak [31]. Installed capacity of bioenergy constitute 0.37 GWe [32]. Biodiesel and bioethanol production are widespread in Colombia. The company Ingenio Providencia has been successfully advancing technology for bioethanol production (Figure 7). Two companies for LFG (landfill gas) processing, owned by EVM are also operating in the country. There are a few relatively large companies, using biomass for energy production. In 2020, bio-energy produced about 1.71 TWh of electricity (Figure 7). However, it should be noted that there has not been significant growth in installed capacity of renewable energy sector in the last 5 years.

[1] List of sovereign states and dependencies by area / Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependencies_by_area
[2] List of countries and dependencies by population density / Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density
[3] Colombia / The world factbook / Library / Central Intelligence Agency / https://www.cia.gov/
[4] GDP, PPP (constant 2011 international $) / World Bank, International Comparison Program database. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org/
[5] GDP per capita, PPP (current international $)/ World Bank, International Comparison Program database. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org/
[6] International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration / www.eia.gov/beta/international/
[7] BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2022 (PDF) / BP / https://www.bp.com/
[8] World Shale Resource Assessments (PDF)/ U.S. Energy Information Administration (11/28/2018 )/ https://www.eia.gov/
[9] 2010 Survey of Energy Resources (PDF) / World Energy Council / www.worldenergy.org/
[10] 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Volume 2, Energy, Fugitive Emissions (PDF) / The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) / https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/
[11] Solar resource data obtained from the Global Solar Atlas, owned by the World Bank Group and provided by Solargis / Global Solar Athlas / http://globalsolaratlas.info/
[12] Wind Map / Global Wind Atlas 2.0, a free, web-based application developed, owned and operated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in partnership with the World Bank Group, utilizing data provided by Vortex, with funding provided by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). For additional information: https://globalwindatlas.info
[13] 2013 Survey of Energy Resources (PDF) / World Energy Council / www.worldenergy.org/
[14] Wave power/ Wikipedia / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power
[15] Agricultural land (% of land area) / Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org
[16] Forest area (% of land area) /Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. License: CC BY-4.0 / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org/
[17] What a Waste (PDF) / Data / The World Bank / http://www.worldbank.org
[18] International Energy Statistic / Geography / U.S. Energy Information Administration (Jan 2019) /http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/
[19] Columbia / Data / World Energy Council / www.worldenergy.org/
[20] Colombia Oil and Gas Profile / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[21] Cano Limon Crude / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[22] Vasconia Crude Oil / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[23] 2019 Annual Statistical Bulletin / OPEC / https://www.opec.org/
[24] Ecopetrol—Barrancabermeja Oil Refinery / Industry About / http://www.industryabout.com/
[25] Ecopetrol defers Barrancabermeja refinery revamp / Robert Brelsford / Mar 11th, 2016 / Oil and Gas Journal / http://www.ogj.com/
[26] Colombia LNG Terminal Project / A Barrel Full / http://abarrelfull.wikidot.com/
[27] Höegh LNG - FSRU Höegh Grace Arrived in Cartagena, Colombia (Video) / Milton Stuards, Nov 2, 2016 / Vessel Finder / https://www.vesselfinder.com/
[28] Current List of Hydro PowerPlants / Global Energy Observatory / http://globalenergyobservatory.org/
[29] Current List of Gas PowerPlants / Global Energy Observatory / http://globalenergyobservatory.org/
[30] Termoguajira Coal Power Plant / Industry About / http://www.industryabout.com/
[21] Project Profile : Jepirachi, Colombia / Nordex Online / http://www.nordex-online.com/
[32] Colombia / Country / IRENA REsources / http://resourceirena.irena.org/

The sources of charts and curves are specified under the images. 

For more information about the energy industry in Colombia see here