Indigenous Colombians in deadlock over wind farms
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In one of the two La Guajira wind farms operated since early 2022 by ISAGEN -- a subsidiary of Canadian company Brookfield -- 14 turbines tower over a fast-changing landscape.
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Wind energy installed in Colombia's far north (AFP)
The Indigenous Wayuu residents in a semi-desert region designated as an El Dorado of renewable energy in Colombia's far north are disturbed by wind farm expansion.
Two wind farms have recently been constructed on this Caribbean peninsula as part of a massive energy transition plan in which solar and wind energy would account for 8% of the nation's supply.
The government plans to reverse this by investing more than $15 billion over the next ten years in the construction of 57 new wind farms, totaling over 3,000 turbines.
According to the Indepaz research institute, the project will influence 600 communities in La Guajira, the ancestral home of the Wayuu.
In one of the two La Guajira wind farms operated since early 2022 by ISAGEN -- a subsidiary of Canadian company Brookfield -- 14 turbines tower over a fast-changing landscape.
ISAGEN had conducted a "prior consultation" with locals and agreed to finance "productive projects" in exchange for land use for 30 years, said Indepaz researcher Joanna Barney, as quoted by AFP.
In Lanshalia, that included installing solar panels and delivering 20,000 liters of drinking water per month.
The company said as quoted by AFP it had complied with the terms of the agreement approved by the local environmental authority.
It is worth noting that the government of leftist new President Gustavo Petro aims to make La Guajira a "green energy capital of the world."
