Drying Up: Colombia’s Reservoir Crisis Reaches a Breaking Point
Since the end of last year, long periods without rain in Colombia have significantly reduced water reserves and affected the energy system.
In 2023 and 2024, Colombia has faced major challenges due to climatic conditions that have caused a significant reduction in the country’s water reserves. This has particularly affected the energy system, which is largely dependent on water from reservoirs and rivers to generate electricity. The reduction in rainfall has led to a worrying drop in reservoir levels, reaching a tipping point in April 2024 with a useful volume of 31.3%.
There, according to ANIF, a downward trend is evident since July which reflects the recent depletion of water resources. The useful volume of the reservoirs is around 9,000 GWh, well below their maximum capacity (close to 18,000 GWh) and far from the levels seen in September 2023 (around 13,000 GWh). This represents a reduction of just over 30%.
The situation has been particularly worrying in Bogotá, where reservoir levels fell sharply in the first months of the year and fell again in recent months, after a short recovery period. This has created concerns among local authorities, as the capital once again faces a critical situation due to the depletion of its water sources. Therefore, it was decided to resume water rationing more often in order to try to address the situation.
All this reflects the vulnerability of Colombia’s energy system. To the extent that the country’s energy production is mainly hydroelectric, climate changes that reduce the availability of water resources threaten energy security. This highlights the importance of the country diversifying its energy sources, trying to reduce dependence on water (and thermal energy, which is a backup in critical moments, but which is much more polluting) and increasing production with sustainable alternative sources.
Renewable energy, such as solar and wind, could mitigate the impact of the El Niño phenomenon and the effects produced by climate change, which is increasingly cyclical, reducing the pressure on water reservoirs and fossil resources. Moving the energy transition forward towards a system that diversifies the energy matrix is not only fundamental but necessary, as has become clear over the past year.
Related, we are close to requests from #SubsidioDeViviendafor more information: application requirements and more, visit our website: https://www.comfacauca.com/servicio/vivienda/
Notification: 602-8231868ext 140-143