Colombia establishes new regulations on geothermal exploration and exploitation

Evening view over Bogota, Colombia (source: flickr/ Tijs Zwinkels, creative commons)

The National Government of Colombia, through the Ministry of Mines and Energy, has established new decrees that provide an institutional framework for the development of the hydrogen market and established procedures for requesting geothermal exploration and exploitation permits. These have been issued as articles 14, 15, 21, and 23 of the Energy Transition Law.

Aside from defining the permitting process and requirements, the new decree also establishes the geothermal registry, where registration of permits for geothermal exploration and exploitation will be recorded.

The details of registration include the duration of the permits, the activities included under the exploration and exploitation phases, the information that the developer must report, the rules for overlapping project, and the sanctioning regime.

The regulation will provide legal certainty to the development of geothermal power generation projects, thereby providing assurance to investors. We had previously reported on the plans of the Government of Colombia to issue regulations that will give geothermal power generation projects the same tax benefits as solar and wind initiatives.

The new regulation also includes guidelines for the development and export of zero and low-emission hydrogen in Colombia. It established the framework for the development of the hydrogen market in Colombia and defines the powers and responsibilities of the different ministries in this new market segment.

Source: Minenergia