Factores habilitantes de la aceptación social de los proyectos eólicos en La Guajira

The report identifies eight enabling factors to improve social acceptance of wind energy projects in La Guajira, Colombia, where high social conflict has led to project delays and suspensions. It emphasizes the need for transparent information, regulated community advisors, recognition of ancestral Wayuu leadership, and standardized benefit distribution to ensure a just energy transition.

• Wind energy projects in La Guajira face significant social conflict and delays due to concerns over justice, equity, and the legitimacy of consultation processes, leading to protests and project suspensions, such as the indefinite suspension of the 200 MW Windpeshi project.
• There is a critical lack of accessible and updated information regarding wind projects, including their capacity, real areas of intervention, and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), which hinders effective community participation.
• Community advisors often lack impartiality and technical expertise because they are typically hired and paid by the project developers, creating incentives to accelerate consultation processes at the expense of social or environmental considerations.
• Consultation processes often fail to recognize the dual nature of Wayuu leadership, creating conflict between the state-recognized 'traditional authority' (administrative) and the 'ancestral authority' or Alaüla, who defines territorial and family matters.
• The absence of regulated standards for benefit distribution leads to heterogeneous and disproportionate agreements between companies and communities, which can trigger internal conflicts and family divisions within the Wayuu people.
• While Law 2294 of 2023 increases 'electrical transfers' from wind plants to territorial entities (gradually from 1% to 6% for new plants), there is no documented case of successful distribution of these resources in La Guajira due to local corruption and poor planning.
• Regional institutional capacity is insufficient to manage the volume of wind projects; for example, CORPOGUAJIRA lacks the resources to review extensive Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) within stipulated timeframes.
• Energy planning in the region has followed a 'Decide-Announce-Defend' (DAD) model, where national decisions and auctions occur before reaching agreements with local communities or updating municipal Land Use Plans (POTs).

APA

Vega-Araújo, J., Cabré, M. M., Ramirez, Y., & Lerma, R. (2023). Factores habilitantes de la aceptación social de los proyectos eólicos en La Guajira. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/sei2023.060-factores-habilitantes-proyectos-eolicos-guajira.pdf

Chicago

Vega-Araújo, José, Miquel Muñoz Cabré, Yismary Ramirez, and Reinaldo Lerma. Factores habilitantes de la aceptación social de los proyectos eólicos en La Guajira. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2023. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/sei2023.060-factores-habilitantes-proyectos-eolicos-guajira.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Vega-Araújo |first1=José |last2=Cabré |first2=Miquel Muñoz |last3=Ramirez |first3=Yismary |last4=Lerma |first4=Reinaldo |title=Factores habilitantes de la aceptación social de los proyectos eólicos en La Guajira |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/sei2023.060-factores-habilitantes-proyectos-eolicos-guajira.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vegaarajo2023factores, author = {Vega-Araújo, José and Cabré, Miquel Muñoz and Ramirez, Yismary and Lerma, Reinaldo}, title = {{Factores habilitantes de la aceptación social de los proyectos eólicos en La Guajira}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/sei2023.060-factores-habilitantes-proyectos-eolicos-guajira.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }