Energiegenossenschaften in La Guajira, Kolumbien – Chancen und Hürden für eine gerechtere Energiewende

This thesis analyzes how the just energy transition is implemented in Colombia, focusing on the region of La Guajira. This region is supposed to become the center of the energy transition in Colombia. At the same time, this region faces major social problems such as water scarcity, lack of access to energy, conflict, and pollution from coal mining. Using the categories of distributive justice, recognition justice, and procedural justice according to Jenkins et al. (2016) and Sovacool et al. (2017), roadmaps and strategies for energy transition are analyzed and reviewed to see how they contribute to more or less energy justice. In addition, this paper examines the role that energy cooperatives can play in the just energy transition and what models could be implemented in La Guajira. The analysis shows that the government prioritizes central large-scale projects primarily in regions with better climatic conditions. However, important aspects such as mechanisms for equal participation, representation of neighboring communities and addressing important social problems such as energy poverty have been neglected. However, the introduction of the net billing system has created an attractive opportunity for self-generators. Incentives have also been created for decentralized generators. Auctions for large projects favor large investors because the decisive criterion is the price of electricity and other aspects such as citizen participation, the creation of local jobs, or the use of local materials and resources are not taken into account, which contributes to the fact that citizen-led projects, such as those of cooperatives, are not competitive. However, energy cooperatives can help democratize the energy transition in Colombia. The direct participation of citizens contributes to greater acceptance, knowledge dissemination, and community empowerment. The cooperative model still has some obstacles to overcome. For example, access to financing, qualified personnel and necessary knowledge. In La Guajira, self-build cooperatives can help reduce the investment cost of PV systems, access better financing options, and strengthen the community through mutual support and knowledge sharing. In cooperative projects where systems are leased to central institutions, such as schools, both parties benefit economically from the system. Photovoltaic systems for battery charging in unconnected areas, provide a basic service alternative that is competitive with diesel systems, but remains inaccessible to some people with limited financial resources unless subsidies are available to reduce investment costs. In general, it should be noted that there are many aspects that can be changed to make the energy transition in Colombia more equitable. Strengthening energy cooperatives can help to see the energy transition as more than just decarbonization of the energy matrix and as a real catalyst for change in the lives of many people.