News Archive Article

Colombia: Codensa's Record-Breaking Electricity Grid

BOGOTA - - A record-breaking electricity infrastructure for Colombia and for Codensa, the Enel Group company that operates in the Latin American country's distribution and retail market. In Bacatá, a neighbourhood in the capital Bogotá, the company has recently put into service the largest transformation substation SSE in Colombia , a 500 kV electricity grid hub that marks the first step of a development project for the whole distribution system.

Thanks to an investment of 82billion Colombian pesos COP, equivalent to more than €28.5 million, Codensa has in fact doubled the station's capacity - where the voltage level is reduced from 500 to 115 kV to supply the grid - in a two-stage operation that has allowed the infrastructure to achieve the capacity needed to manage an amount of energy equivalent to that simultaneously consumed by a city as large as Barranquilla that, with more than one million inhabitants, is the fourth in Colombia - and by the entire department of Boyacà.

Codensa is a leader in Colombia both in energy distribution and sale, with 2.8 million customers. It operates in the capital Bogotá, in 97 municipalities in the Cundinamarca department, in eight of that of Boyacá and in one of that of Tolima. The enhancement of the Bacatá substation strengthens the Enel Group company's infrastructure and is part of a long-term grid implementation strategy aimed to improve the service's quality levels and increase the reliability of the whole domestic electricity grid. In fact, the station's cutting-edge characteristics include a backup operational system that enables response to to failures of the station's equipment without having to turn it off and interrupt the service.

Codensa has also achieved an efficiency record when it completed Batacá. By employing a team of almost a hundred people including engineers, electricity technicians, specialists and logistics experts, the Enel Group company managed to complete the substation in only 14 months, while this type of construction usually requires around two and a half years.

Bacatá paves the way to a system of substations of 500 kV with which Codensa is planning on building the largest high-voltage ring in Colombia . In fact, over the next years another two substations will start to be built: Nueva Esperanza and Norte. "This plan is part of the Codensa investment strategy to appropriately respond to growing demand and improve the quality of service provided to our customers.

Commercial startup of this infrastructure additionally strengthens the City and its energy system increasing its reliability and stability", Codensa CEO David Felipe Acosta pointed out.

Related News

BC Hydro cryptic about crypto mining electricity use

VANCOUVER - In its Nov. 1, 2022 load update briefing note to senior executives of the Crown corporation, BC Hydro shows that the entire large industrial sector accounted for 6,591 gigawatt-hours during the period – one percent less than forecast in the service plan.

BC Hydro censored load statistics about crypto mining, coal mining and chemicals from the briefing note, which was obtained under the freedom of information law because it feared that disclosure would harm Crown corporation finances and third-party business interests.

Crypto mining requires high-powered computers to run and be cooled around the clock constantly. So much so that cabinet…

READ MORE
washington-state-ferries-hybrid-electric-upgrade

Washington State Ferries' Hybrid-Electric Upgrade

READ MORE

energy storage

Utilities see benefits in energy storage, even without mandates

READ MORE

undersea cable

Fish boom prompts energy conglomerate to spend $14.5M to bury subsea cables

READ MORE

nuclear plant

Explainer: Why nuclear-powered France faces power outage risks

READ MORE