The Energy Districts Program in Colombia, now internationally recognized as part of the Global Energy Districts Programme (GEDP), began in 2013 under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Technical Ozone Unit (UTO), the Ministry of Mines and Energy, UPME, and EPM, with support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and later implemented with the support of UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
Since then, the program has promoted urban energy transformation through the development of efficient infrastructure for cooling, heating, and energy use.
Among its main achievements are the consolidation of eight operational energy districts, the integration of energy districts into key energy efficiency and climate change mitigation policies, the adoption of a national technical regulation for these infrastructures, the development of more than 21 feasibility studies in different cities, the mobilization of more than USD 87 million in investments, and the training of thousands of professionals and sector stakeholders.
In addition, Colombia has positioned itself as a regional leader in energy districts and as a pioneer country for the global scalability of the GEDP toward other developing countries.
| Indicator | Data | Reference year |
|---|---|---|
Population
|
52,886,363 | 2024 |
GDP per capita (US$/capita)
|
≈ 7,900 USD/capita | 2024 |
Electricity tariff for regulated consumers (US$/kWh)
|
≈ 0.15 – 0.20 US$/kWh | 2025 |
Electricity tariff for non-regulated / large consumers (US$/kWh)
|
≈ 0.08 – 0.12 US$/kWh | 2025 |
Renewable energy share in national electricity generation (%)
|
69,7% | 2023 |
National average grid emission factor (kgCO₂e/kWh)
|
0.220 kgCO₂e/kWh | 2024 |
Annual cooling degree days (CDD 18 °C) Major cities
|
Barranquilla: 3482 días/año Bogotá: 23 días/año Cali: 1972 días/año Medellín: 1916 días/año |
2016 |