The auction assigned 99% of the new capacity to solar plants, the ministry said in a statement, while the remaining 1% went to thermal biomass plants, repairing a gas plant, building a biomass plant and expanding a smaller bio-gas plant.
The closing price of the auction was $18.20 per megawatt hour, the ministry added. It did not reveal the names of the companies awarded licenses.
"With this auction, as of Dec. 1, 2027, the additional effective net capacity of the electrical system is expected be 4,489 MW, of which 48 MW are thermal and 4,441 MW are solar," the ministry said.
Solar power will overtake thermal in Colombia's energy matrix as a result of the auction, accounting for 26% of the country's electricity, the ministry said. Hydroelecticity's place in the matrix will fall from 66% to 50%, it added.
"With these results, and with projects that are on the way with firm energy commitments, our energy matrix in net effective capacity for the (grid) will go from 20 GW to 26 GW," Minister of Mines and Energy Andres Camacho said in a message on X, formerly Twitter.
Colombia will now prepare an auction exclusively for renewable energy projects, Camacho added.
The government of leftist President Gustavo Petro is pushing for Colombia to stop being so reliant on fossil fuels, especially oil and coal, which are major exports and sources of income for the country.
Many wind and solar energy projects have suffered setbacks due to resistance from communities and objections from some environmental authorities.
In early December, Colombia launched its first bidding round for offshore wind concessions.
