Patria Investments brings 360 MWp Puerta de Oro solar park online in Cundinamarca, Colombia’s largest photovoltaic facility

The Puerta de Oro facility spans territory between Guaduas and Chaguaní municipalities in Cundinamarca department, deploying more than 511,000 photovoltaic modules across the site. Patria Investments claims the project represents Colombia’s largest solar park by installed capacity, though Enel Green Power’s Guayepo I and II complex holds 486.7 MWp of operational capacity. Annual generation exceeds 700 GWh, sufficient to supply electricity matching consumption patterns of more than 450,000 households.

Grid interconnection required construction of 23 kilometers of 230 kV transmission lines terminating at the San Felipe substation in Armero-Guayabal, Tolima department. Engineering specifications included crossing the Magdalena River using towers exceeding 110 meters in height to clear the waterway. The transmission infrastructure received environmental licensing from ANLA in May 2024, following a November 2020 Ministry of Mines and Energy declaration of public utility status that enabled land acquisition.

Project financing totaled 280 million dollars according to Cundinamarca departmental government data. The Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional provided 20 percent of required capital, with a September 2025 external credit facility from FDN and the Inter-American Development Bank delivering 138.5 million dollars. The financing structure involved 330 separate investors in the capital stack.

Luis Alberto Páez, chief executive of Patria Investments’ energy division in Colombia, stated the early commercial operation fulfills commitments from 2024 expansion auctions and 2025 firm energy obligation reconfiguration processes ahead of contracted schedules. The advance entry provides firm energy capacity as the National Interconnected System faces pressure from climate variability linked to El Niño conditions reducing hydroelectric reservoir levels.

Construction activities generated more than 1,100 employment positions, with 95 percent of workforce roles filled by local labor from surrounding municipalities. Operational phase fiscal contributions include estimated annual royalty payments of 35 billion Colombian pesos distributed to Guaduas and Chaguaní municipal governments. Patria Investments calculates the facility will prevent emission of hundreds of thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide annually compared to fossil fuel generation equivalents.

The Puerta de Oro project received the Energy Excellence award from the Latin American Energy Organization after competing against 104 projects from 15 countries.