A key component of Colombia’s energy security

October 14, 2024

Luis Miguel Fernández Zaher, CEO of TermoCandelaria Power, talks to The Energy Year about the importance of thermal plants for Colombia’s power security and the key features of the TEBSA and Termocandelaria plants. TermoCandelaria Power is an electric power generation company operating the largest portfolio of thermal power plants in Colombia.

How key are thermal plants and TermoCandelaria Power in guaranteeing power security in Colombia?
The national thermal spectrum in Colombia is made up of 29 thermal plants, of which 18 operate with natural gas, nine with coal, one with LPG and another with both gas and coal. Out of all these, 14 are in the Caribbean region of the country.
During the El Niño phenomenon, thermal plants supplied more than 50% of the country’s energy demand at a certain point. These 14 plants in the Caribbean, at the most critical moment, delivered 30% of the country’s total demand.
Additionally, we operate plants such as TEBSA, and Termocandelaria, which delivers approximately 15% of the country’s total demand. TermoCandelaria Power, as a holding company, is the largest non-hydro generation firm in Colombia, with 1.5 GW of installed capacity.
We own and operate these two different combined-cycle power plants that run on natural gas. We import our gas through the SPEC LNG regasification terminal in Cartagena. This asset was developed to support the electricity needs of Colombia and has proven itself essential during periods when hydroelectric plants cannot provide the electricity the country requires.
Thermal plants such as the ones we own are an essential part of the national energy reliability effort, as they offer reliable and stable power generation. They are thus a key backup whenever there is a lack of electricity coming from other sources.
The majority of thermal plants in the country are very competitive and flexible. We source our gas through the only existing LNG importation facility in Colombia and therefore are connected to a very liquid and deep international gas market, which guarantees reliability for the country, and we have a long-term contract for access to infrastructure.
We buy LNG as we need it and have more than 25 purchase agreements signed with tier-one LNG producers internationally.

Tell us about the key features of the TEBSA and Termocandelaria plants and their importance for the national and regional power spectrum.
TEBSA is the largest thermal plant in the country, with 963 MW of installed capacity. The plant consists of five operating gas turbines, with two steam turbines in a 5×2 configuration in addition to two conventional steam units. This makes it a very reliable and efficient plant. It is considered the asset with the most stable energy output in the country.
While in normal conditions the utilisation rate of the plants stands at around 40-50%, during El Niño we had the plant operating at 100% capacity with all nine of its units. In terms of installed capacity, TEBSA can cover up to 10% of the country’s total demand and 45% of the Caribbean region’s demand. This says a lot about the flexibility and reliability of this plant.
Termocandelaria is our second thermal plant. It was originally an open-cycle gas turbine plant but is now undergoing a conversion to become a combined-cycle gas turbine plant, increasing its capacity from 314 MW to 566 MW, an increase of approximately 80%.
Before the conversion, its gas consumption was around 10,200 Btu per kWh. Today, we use the same amount of gas while producing 80% more power with a heat rate of 6,488 Btu per kWh. After an investment of more than USD 258 million, we have obtained not only an increase in capacity but also a strategic increase in efficiency of more than 50%, which benefits end consumers.
Termocandelaria is the most modern and efficient thermal plant in Colombia, having an environmentally friendly condenser cooling system with zero water and chemical consumption. This plant has the capacity to cover 7% of the country’s demand and 35% of the demand in Colombia’s Caribbean region.

 

What technologies have you applied to Termocandelaria to make it the most modern plant in the country?
When it comes to our gas generation units, we mainly use Mitsubishi technology at Termocandelaria. The steam unit also uses this technology.
Additionally, we have an Emerson control system that operates the gas plant cycle and almost all the different elements of the plant. The steam plant uses a specific Mitsubishi control system, but we have an state-of-the-art DCS [distributed control system] that integrates all the functions of the plant, including the water plant, the whole water-to-steam cycle, the gas turbines and so on.
Digitalisation is key at our plant. This makes it the most modern facility in the country and one of the most advanced worldwide. The modernisation of the plant has also created major energy efficiencies that have been critical for our commitment to more sustainable and environmentally friendly operations. In other words, we produce more energy with less emissions. Technology and sustainability go hand in hand.

What commitment does TermoCandelaria Power have to local communities adjacent to its assets?
We have supported the communities that surround our plants with educational, microenterprise and microfinance programmes, which help the inhabitants of these communities develop subsistence mechanisms. We aim to promote entrepreneurship to incentivise local people to create their own businesses. We also fund microfinance schemes so they can access credit and finance their businesses.
Education wise, we support local schools and have scholarship programmes in place. We look out for local children, specifically in the Termocandelaria area, with school football projects. We do this through a foundation called Happy Kids.
In addition, when we underwent the Candelaria cycle closure, we indirectly employed more than 4,500 people during the construction stage, the majority of whom were locals. More than 85% of the workforce was from the region of Termocandelaria.

In what ways is the company seeking to complement its thermal portfolio with greener alternatives?
The fact that we use the latest technologies and boost the efficiency of our plants is crucial for our sustainability goals and those of the country. Moreover, gas-fired plants are cleaner than other sources of fossil thermal generation. What’s more, these combined-cycle gas-fired thermal plants can be very easily adapted to consume hydrogen or to mix gas with hydrogen. This would make the process of producing energy even cleaner and greener.
In addition, we are developing non-conventional renewables projects at TEBSA. We have a pipeline of more than 100 MW in solar projects, which we will probably develop in the next 24 months. We see renewables as a complement, not a replacement. The demand for energy is growing to such an extent that we will need all technologies to meet our needs.

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