An appraisal of the challenges and opportunities for the Colombia Inteligente Program implementation

The Colombia Inteligente (Smart Colombia) Initiative is a non-governmental program whose objective is to establish different strategies for a successful implementation of smart grid technology in a Colombia. The program started in November 2009 and has developed a conceptual basis for the next years to come. A critical factor in the success of the Colombia Inteligente Program is to identify the drivers for smart grid implementation based on the country needs and expectations. Environmental concerns, increasing electricity consumption, security of energy supply, aging infrastructure and significant advances in communication and information technologies have been identified as major drivers for smart grid deployments worldwide. Some of these drivers might not be the focal aspects for smart grid in developing countries. This paper introduces how the Smart Colombia Initiative is conceptualized and analyses different drivers that provide opportunities for its implementation.