[MUSIC PLAYING] THOMAS BLACK: I've been lucky enough to be
able to develop a series of capacity building programs.
This one is very special because we were able to design a program to invite young leaders
from the different parts of the energy sector in Colombia public, private to begin to prepare
them at a very high level in a nine-month capacity building program with the objective
of opening up the future of renewable energy for these leaders in a critical moment for
Colombia.
DANIELLA ROUGH: The beauty of this project is not just NREL and the government of Colombia.
It's NREL, NUSCA, USAID, obviously as the main implementing partner, Tetra Tech in the
scaling-up renewable energy program, representatives of the government of Colombia, representatives
of the regulators of Colombia, private sector representatives.
We're all in this together.
We all have different perspectives on how to approach this energy transition.
We all have different roles in that, and we have to work together.
JOHANNA KOOLEMANS-BEYNEN: There is so much to gain-- to be gained from working together
and exchanging experiences and exchanging best practices.
JAIRO GUITERREZ: I think that the role that each of our institutions have played in these
programs has been incredibly collaborative, and I think that the institutions that are
receiving that support really feel that this is a united front.
THOMAS BLACK: So this program is really special because we ask the leading public and private
entities that USAID associates with and works within Colombia to nominate two or three young
leaders from each entity to participate in this program.
And it's just been a fantastic experience.
SEAN ESTERLY: So four action plans were selected to receive additional technical assistance.
We're providing a lot of technical assistance on electric vehicle advancement.
And we also did a project modeling potential rooftop PV deployment out to 2050 for Barranquilla
in Colombia using our NREL's dGen model.
We are able to see these action plans move forward in the real world as we're working
on them.
Some of the action plans are already moving on with next steps.
CATHERINE BOHORQUEZ RODRIZUEZ: [ENGLISH TRANSLATION] So I think it was a very good experience.
It was an experience in which we had the opportunity to learn from many countries, from many experts,
and that made it enriching and, in the end, the product was very good in terms of not
only achieving a good result, but also allowing us to have the possibility that it is applied
and that really contributes to the country.
DANIELLA ROUGH: So during this capacity building program that we developed, we tried to have
at least 70% of female participation, which we achieved, and it was great.
DIANA ORREGO: [ENGLISH TRANSLATION] I think it is very important that the role that one
as a woman can begin to coordinate, to lead everything that is the transition, not only
at a large-scale level in generation or in engineering issues, but also in all issues
of coordination with public policy entities, regulators, city entities, and companies in
order to generate synergies among all of them, and the role of women is very important for
that.
DANIELLA ROUGH: Energy transitions are complex.
It involves all actors, all stakeholders.
It really involves everybody.
It's all hands on deck approach.
KATHARINA GROSSO BUITRAGO: [ENGLISH TRANSLATION] What excites me and my colleagues the most
is being able to see all the research that NREL is undertaking, and all the great advances
that are possible in Colombia, which until now we are in the middle of our energy transition.
There are things that are far away for us, but being able to better understand them and
see how we can articulate them in public policies and in the programs that we work on every
day is what excites me the most about the course.
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