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Implementing partner: Fundación Ideas para la Paz
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Consortium parners: Meliquina - ConnectEP
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Implementation period: July 2025 - December 2026
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Sector: Just Energy Transition
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Colombia has ambitious renewable energy targets and aims to diversify its energy matrix and reduce carbon emissions. The Caribbean region, especially La Guajira, has some of the highest wind and solar potential in Latin America. However, several projects have been delayed or stalled, needing improvement of regulations institutional capacity, and acceptance by the communities.
One challenge is the relationship between project developers and local communities, many of whom are indigenous or Afro-descendant groups, historically excluded from decision-making. Communities often perceive renewable projects as external impositions with little benefit to them. In addition to that, Colombia needs clear financial and policy mechanisms to enable communities to share ownership or revenue from such projects.
This project is designed to respond directly to these challenges, recognising that equity, inclusion, and benefit-sharing are central to accelerating renewable deployment in Colombia. By piloting community equity partnership models, it introduces a practical way to align the interests of communities, government, and private investors.
This project will pilot and strengthen community equity partnership models for renewable energy in Colombia, ensuring that local communities are consulted and also become co-owners of clean energy projects. By doing so, it ensures that economic and social benefits of renewable projects are fairly distributed and locally anchored.
"This project is transformative because it changes the role of communities from being passive recipients to active partners in Colombia’s clean energy future. Shared ownership means that communities have a real stake in the projects, ensuring trust, long-term sustainability, and benefits that stay in the region."
María Victoria Llorente, Executive Director, Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP)
To achieve this, four workstreams will be implemented:
1. Awareness-raising: Promoting knowledge and dialogue among communities, energy companies, financial institutions, and government entities, to create a shared understanding of its benefits, requirements, and potential to reduce conflict and strengthen social acceptance.
2. Technical assistance: Providing hands-on support to companies and communities to pilot and develop three medium to large-scale renewable energy projects structured around equity partnerships, including tailored assistance for financial institutions.
3. Capacity-building: Strengthening skills and knowledge of key representatives from communities, companies, government, and financiers to design, negotiate, and implement shared ownership arrangements, with practical and context-specific training cycles to ensure long-term institutional capacity.
4. Policy and regulatory engagement: Advancing a supportive policy and fiscal framework that enables and incentivises community equity participation, involving dialogue with national and regional authorities, as well as developing recommendations for regulatory and tax adjustments.
By combining these strands, the project will deliver a replicable model of inclusive governance and financing that can be scaled nationally, accelerating renewable energy deployment while ensuring that Colombia’s transition is just, participatory, and socially sustainable.
