On 10 November 2025, the Government of Colombia adopted Decree No. 1186 of 2025, which establishes the “Environmental Wind Licence with Optimized Design (LAEólica)”. The Decree amends Colombia’s environmental regulatory framework by introducing a specific environmental licensing regime (LAEólica) for wind energy projects with an installed capacity between 10 and 100 MW. It streamlines procedures, reduces administrative barriers and clarifies environmental criteria in order to facilitate the development of wind power projects as part of the country’s just energy transition.
The LAEólica regime modifies the environmental licensing process for eligible wind energy projects by:
- establishing predefined eligibility criteria related to project location, technology and design;
- setting shorter and mandatory timelines for the evaluation and decision-making stages of the licensing process;
- increasing reliance on existing environmental information held by the national environmental licensing authority; and
- removing the requirement to submit a Diagnóstico Ambiental de Alternativas (DAA), a preliminary assessment normally required to compare and justify alternative project locations or design options prior to the submission of a full environmental impact assessment.
