The Colombian government has announced a major grid expansion plan aimed at enabling up to 6 GW of new renewable energy capacity in the country’s Caribbean region.

The initiative, named “Connected Caribbean: Urgent Works for a Reliable and Competitive Electricity Service,” was unveiled last week by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, with a planned investment of US$1.7 billion in grid infrastructure.

The project targets growing electricity demand in departments including La Guajira, Cesar, Magdalena, Atlántico, Córdoba, and Sucre, while addressing longstanding grid connection bottlenecks and reducing reliance on thermal power plants.

According to the Ministry, the expansion will enable the integration of 6 GW of renewable energy generation, particularly wind and solar projects, into the national grid.

The project scope includes:

· 15 synchronous compensators

· 4 transformers for the National Transmission System (STN)

· 3 reactors

· Over 13 works within the Regional Transmission System (STR)

“These are not minor projects or half-measures,” said Edwin Palma, Minister of Mines and Energy. “We are correcting decades of neglect in the Caribbean’s electrical infrastructure, strengthening the grid, and creating the technical conditions for the energy transition to become a reality—without jeopardizing system reliability.”