Enel Colombia has completed major modernisation and maintenance work on the Paraíso and La Guaca hydroelectric plants, located in El Colegio (Cundinamarca) and part of the Bogotá River generation chain. The company invested more than €7 million in the project to ensure continued reliability and operational efficiency of the two plants, which together have an installed capacity of 600MW – equivalent to around 3% of Colombia’s annual energy demand.
“As one of the country’s largest generating companies, Enel Colombia reaffirms its commitment to the electricity system. Therefore, this year we are committed to updating and improving these two hydroelectric plants, which are highly important for the eastern region, to ensure their proper operation. This is achieved through a substantial investment in major maintenance work, which is performed on average every 15 years and which, given the growing energy demand, is now necessary,” said Juan Carlos Grosso, Deputy Manager of Operations and Maintenance for Enel Colombia and Central America.
The month-long shutdown required coordination across the Paraíso and La Guaca plants and the El Muña reservoir. Approximately 600 workers participated in the project, with more than 35% from nearby municipalities including El Colegio, San Antonio del Tequendama, Sibaté, and Soacha. The planned outage was managed without affecting the national grid; the Colombian electrical system met demand through the existing generation fleet.
At the Paraíso Power Plant, Enel, in coordination with Enlaza (a subsidiary of the Bogotá Energy Group), upgraded the GIS substation that connects generating units to the National Interconnected System. The upgrade makes it the most modern GIS substation in Colombia.
“Central Colombia is facing difficulties in meeting the growing demand for energy due to the challenges in executing electrical transmission projects at the expected pace, owing to opposition from a few stakeholders in some territories. Therefore, it was crucial to modernize this asset and thus contribute to the reliability of the system,” said Fredy Zuleta, General Manager of Enlaza.
Additional work at Paraíso included maintenance on the ball valves and comprehensive inspection of the odor control system associated with the Bogotá River. This system includes the stilling tank, extraction system, biofilter, and ecofilter.
At the La Guaca Power Plant, maintenance was also performed on the ball valves, while the disconnectors that synchronise the units with the National Interconnected System were replaced. The rotor winding, responsible for generating the magnetic field that induces voltage, was also replaced.
In the tunnels and conduits, internal and external inspections were carried out, and a section of the penstock feeding the La Guaca plant was cleaned and repainted. Work also took place at El Muña Reservoir, where maintenance was performed on the “Granada Tower,” a submerged structure equipped with screens to prevent sediment from entering the generation system.
“At Enel, we have taken all the necessary measures to guarantee the stability of the plants’ infrastructure, the safety of the communities surrounding the hydroelectric plants, and the people who worked on these maintenance projects,” Grosso concluded.
