A competitive bidding process for the long-proposed Colombia-Panama electricity link could be launched next year, a senior Colombian energy official told BNamericas on Friday.

Ricardo Ramírez, the director general of Colombian energy ministry planning unit UPME, said the entity is currently drafting bidding and contract terms for the works.

“Our idea is that we could have something defined this year and probably start the [tender’s] execution next year,” Ramírez said on the sidelines of the South America Energy Series Colombia 2019 Gas & Renewables summit in Bogotá.

Ramírez said that Colombian state-run transmission group ISA, its Panamanian counterpart Etesa and ICP – a 50:50 joint venture between Etesa and ISA – would jointly coordinate the project.

The cross-border power line has been on the agenda of both governments since 2001 but plans have been stymied by environmental and social concerns.

Panama’s licensing authority has yet to approve the project because of opposition from the Kuna Wargandi and Guna Yala indigenous groups.

According to preliminary information, the 300kV HVDC link would run 500km from the Cerromatoso substation in Colombia’s Córdoba department to the Panamá II substation in Panamá province, with capacity to transport 400MW.

The line would include a 130km marine stretch to reduce its impact in Panama but would increase investment, according to some observers.

Colombian officials say the link would pave the way for renewable energy exports from the Guajira peninsula to Central America’s Siepac grid while reinforcing domestic supply, particularly during El Niño drought cycles.

Jorge Rivera Staff, the energy sector content coordinator for Panama’s president-elect Laurentino Cortizo, told BNamericas in May that the interconnection project is part of the new government’s agenda.