| Colombia is planning to open wind energy fields in La Guajira. Wind energy is renewable and a cheap source of electricity. Although it is also considered a clean and non-polluting energy source, wind farms cause flora and fauna to change. In the case of La Guajira, migratory birds, for example, will have to alter their routes. Bats, which play a central role in the local ecosystem as pollinators of the cardón cactus species on which the indigenous Wayúus depend, will be badly affected. Their wave navigation system gets thrown off by wind turbines. Mortality rates of these flying mammals soar around wind farms. |
Winds of change blow through indigenous lands in La Guajira
The Caribbean coastal desert is ground zero for Colombia’s plan to lead the region’s shift to renewable energy, but at huge cost to the Wayúu people.
La Guajira, Dec. 22.– Looking like huge, beached white whales in an arid landscape, the
wind turbine’s blades lie on the ground. This is Cabo de la Vela, a remote area on the northern tip of the Colombian Guajira, a huge desert region on the Caribbean coast. The turbine is one of ten on the first wind farm to be built in Colombia in 17 years. It will stand 78 meters tall, each blade 49 meters long. The turbines are the new improved variety – bigger, more powerful and more cost-efficient because they can tap higher wind speeds.
The wind farm, called Guajira I, is owned by the Colombian hydroelectric company Isagene. Next door is Jepírachi, a wind farm owned by Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM).
Jepírachi was pioneering when it was inaugurated in 2004. Now, its rickety turbines are near the end of their useful life. Black oil runs down the towers, staining what’s advertised as a “clean” source of energy. When asked about this, EPM explained that the park was a pilot project, intended as a place “to learn about the technology, evaluate the benefits of wind energy and build a relationship with the Wayúu community”.
The blades for the new turbines are supposed to lead a regional revolution. They are manufactured by Danish wind turbine maker Vestas, and the Colombian president, Iván Duque, was present when they arrived at the port of Puerto Brisa. Colombia, he promised, would overtake “the leaders in Latin America in energy transition".
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