RES-E-driven reform for the Colombian electricity market: a proposal

The Colombian electricity sector, as other power sectors in Latin America, is characterised by an ex-post market which calculates prices only after the operation of the system. No commercial commitment is established in the day ahead and changes in the operational dispatch has almost no economic consequence for market agents. As recognised by Colombian institutions, this design may not be suitable to efficiently integrate large shares of renewable generation. This article presents a regulatory proposal for the introduction of a day-ahead, an intraday and a balancing market in Colombia. The discussion focuses on the complexities arising from the introduction of an intraday market in a system historically based on uniform pricing (a single price for the entire network), but the article also analyses the interactions of the proposed design with other aspects of the Colombian power sector regulation.