EPM to offset 2 million tons of CO2 with auction of Emission Reduction Certificates

Empresas Públicas de Medellà­n (EPM) in Colombia will hold a public auction to sell 2 million certificates of carbon credits from three hydroelectric plants and one wind farm.

According to BNamericas, the credits will come from EPM’s x-MW La Vuelta and x-MW La Herradura mini hydroelectric plants and the 19.5-MW Jepà­rachi Wind Farm, which are registered with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and the 660-MW Porce III hydroelectric plant registered with Certificara de Carbono SA (Cercarbono).

At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Colombia committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 51% by 2030, a responsibility that was transferred to all industrial sectors, including electricity.

EPM owns 36 hydroelectric plants, 4 thermal plants and one wind farm located in La Guajira. EPM’s total installed generation capacity is 3,556 MW, of which 86% corresponds to hydroelectric generation.

The 2.4-GW Ituango Hydroelectric is the main generation project in Colombia, which is in the construction stage.

Today, the business group has several projects — including La Vuelta, La Herradura, Jepà­rachi Wind Farm, Porce III, the Aguas Claras treatment plant, as well as forested areas — that reduce GHG emissions and are registered in various international standards, including the CDM and Cercarbano.

Thanks to this, EPM has carbon credits that can be used either to offset the carbon tax (projects in Colombia) or to offset the internal carbon footprint of companies, with a view to being carbon-neutral. A carbon credit is equivalent to 1 ton of CO2 that is no longer emitted into the atmosphere.

The carbon credits EPM will auction come from the power generation of La Herradura, La Vuelta, Jepà­rachi and Porce III between 2016 and 2018. Twenty blocks of 100,000 emission reduction certificates (CER) each will be auctioned, for a total of 2 million. Those interested must make a purchase offer in which they indicate the price they are willing to pay in Colombian pesos per block of carbon credit (COP/Bond). The company will receive offers to purchase rights to these carbon credits on March 23.