The Comptroller General of the Republic determined tax findings for more than $86,054 million in two Ecopetrol contracts: the first for $49,592 million, in the agreement for the operation of the Providencia Solar Ecopark and the second for $36,462 million due to the failure to impose fines in the contract with the company Morelco SAS
The inter-administrative agreement 453 of 2022, signed between the Ministry of Mines and Energy and Ecopetrol, had the objective of strengthening the energy infrastructure of the island of Providencia, as a priority response to the emergency caused by Hurricane Iota in November 2020 and as part of the national energy transition strategy.
However, in the audit carried out during the 2024 period, the Comptroller General’s Office confirmed the fiscal damage due to the comprehensive ineffectiveness of the Ecopark, the exposure of the assets to environmental deterioration, the progressive loss of useful life and the possibility of incurring cost overruns for their future integration.
Among other things, the failure to deliver the BESS system, which works for energy storage in batteries, was evidenced, the acquisition of which depended on an international donation that was managed by the ministry, without contractual guarantees and the decision of Ecopetrol to continue the execution of the project without ensuring the availability of that component.
The Comptroller’s Office determined that the partial operation of the project fails to comply with the contractual objective, which requires the full commissioning of the photovoltaic plant, the BESS and the control system. It was established that there was irregular fiscal management by the ministry and Ecopetrol, in addition to a lack of planning, management and supervision.
For the Comptroller General’s Office, the resources invested do not fulfill the purpose for which they were intended, they are not providing any service, nor have they represented any benefit for the Raizal community.
Furthermore, there is a risk of obsolescence of these goods due to lack of use and climatic conditions to which they are exposed. The components of the solar park are not fulfilling the purpose for which they were intended, prone to deterioration and a reduction in their useful life.
Failure to impose fines
The Comptroller General’s Office determined a tax discovery for $36,462 million corresponding to the insured amount, not recovered by Ecopetrol and denied by the insurance company, in contract No.3050857, signed between Ecopetrol SA and the company Morelco SAS
During the audit, it was evident that Ecopetrol did not timely apply the measures provided for in the contract in response to the contractor’s non-compliance, especially with respect to the provisions of the clause that refers to fines and early termination.
These clauses gave Ecopetrol the possibility of deducting the corresponding fines from the invoice for the month following the communication of non-compliance, making the performance guarantee effective or, if necessary, terminating the contract early when non-compliance persisted.
The Comptroller General’s Office identified that Ecopetrol evidenced and documented several communications warning the contractor about repeated delays between 2023 and 2024. Despite these non-compliance, Ecopetrol allowed the contract to continue without timely applying the corrective measures at its disposal, such as the imposition of fines or the early termination of the contract.
Instead of acting during execution, the entity began the process of imposing the fine and filing a claim with the insurer on April 15, 2025, when the contract had expired on December 30, 2024 and the policy had expired.
For the Comptroller General’s Office, the fact that Ecopetrol has not applied the clauses provided in the contract to address the non-compliance presented and has promoted the impact of the policy once the contract has ended, reflects an untimely management in the control of non-compliance, which meant losing the opportunity to exercise mitigation actions within the contractual period.