Camilo Táutiva, an expert advisor on energy for UPME, joined the Carbon Trust´s team in London for three weeks. This was followed by the Carbon Trust’s Daniel Perdomo-Rodriguez returning to Bogotá in Colombia for a further three weeks.

The Pacific Alliance Secondments Programme is designed to promote economic development in the region and build bilateral ties with the growing Pacific Alliance nations of Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Chile. The programme, launched this year, is supported by a £1 million fund from the UK government.

The secondments allowed the two organisations to jointly investigate key challenges, such as the roll-out of advanced energy meter infrastructure and the challenge of providing energy access to remote areas.

This secondment programme builds on previous strategic work to support the Colombian government’s efforts to promote renewable energy markets through its national Law 1715. On this previous project the Carbon Trust worked with UPME to deliver a full cost–benefit analysis and evaluation of the mechanisms, tools and strategies to promote non-conventional renewable energy in Colombia.