Colombia approved CONPES 4169 (October 30, 2025, according to ConsultorSalud; announced by the National Planning Department, DNP, on November 12): COP 3.02 trillion (Colombian pesos; 3.02 × 10^12) to renovate, expand and equip the public hospital network between 2026 and 2030, with 102 facilities upgraded and 13 hospitals receiving biomedical equipment. Among the components is the modernization of electrical systems. It is good news, with one technical condition: hospital electrical installations are not designed like those of an office or a plant. An operating room or an ICU cannot tolerate an interruption, and the grid that feeds them has to be built so that neither a first ground fault nor a utility outage shuts them down.

Why do hospital electrical installations matter in the public network renovation?

Because a hospital project that modernizes beds, operating rooms or imaging equipment without modernizing the electrical system leaves the risk untouched. CONPES 4169 includes structural reinforcement, expansions and major refurbishments, together with the modernization of electrical systems, medical gas networks, water and waste systems (DNP, November 2025).

That is the starting point for the year: the 102 facilities are upgraded between 2026 and 2030, and each one will need to decide which part of its electrical grid is replaced, which is expanded and which is protected. The hospital electrical installations specified today will operate for decades.

What makes hospital electrical installations different?

The patient. In industry, a failure stops production; in a hospital, it can affect a person connected to life-support equipment. That is why the international standard IEC 60364-7-710 classifies medical locations into three groups, according to the patient's contact with electrical equipment and the consequence of losing power:

In Colombia, the reference for these spaces is Section 517 of NTC 2050 (the Colombian Electrical Code), which covers healthcare facilities, within the framework of the Colombian electrical regulation (RETIE).

How do you guarantee power continuity in a hospital?

With layers, not with a single piece of equipment. The approach of Article 517 of the US standard NFPA 70, on which NTC 2050 is based, splits the essential electrical system into branches: life safety, critical and equipment. The life safety branch (emergency lighting, exit signs, alarms) and the critical branch must restore service within 10 seconds at most after losing the utility supply. The equipment branch connects automatically with a delay, and non-essential loads are reconnected afterwards, in stages.

In practice, that means:

Automatic transfer. An automatic transfer switchboard (ATS) for each branch switches between the utility and the emergency generator, under IEC 60947-6-1. With separate branches, a fault on non-essential equipment does not drag down the operating room. For details on this equipment, see our guide to the automatic transfer switchboard.

Emergency generator and fuel. Sized for the essential branches, with periodic load testing. A generator that is never tested is a risk, not a backup.

UPS at the most sensitive points. The generator takes seconds to start; life-support and imaging equipment must not wait through that interval.

What is a medical IT system and why does it go in operating rooms and ICUs?

It is an ungrounded (isolated) power system, fed by an isolation transformer, that keeps operating after the first insulation fault. An insulation monitoring device (IEC 61557-8) watches the network and raises an audible and visual alarm at the first fault, without tripping. Staff can finish the procedure and correct the fault afterwards, instead of losing power in the middle of surgery.

Everything is integrated into a switchboard built and verified to IEC 61439. That piece, the hospital isolation switchboard, is the electrical heart of Group 2.

How do you specify hospital electrical installations step by step?

Specification lesson. In hospital electrical installations, you do not specify a switchboard, you specify a chain: room classification, backup branches, transfer and isolation. First define which area is Group 2 and what must be backed up within 10 seconds; the equipment follows from there.

Which regulations apply to hospital electrical installations and where does Ectricol fit in?

Hospital electrical installations in Colombia are governed by the Colombian electrical regulation (RETIE), updated by Resolution 40284 of 2026 of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (issued on June 23, 2026, according to the text published by SafetYA), together with NTC 2050 for healthcare spaces.

Ectricol manufactures in Funza, with routine tests, isolation switchboards for hospital use, automatic transfer switchboards and low-voltage distribution switchboards. Each project is defined with application engineering according to the service and the load.

Frequently asked questions

What are hospital electrical installations?

They are the distribution, backup and protection networks designed for patient care areas. They stand out for classifying medical locations into groups, backing up essential services and using special systems, such as the medical IT system, in operating rooms and ICUs.

What is a medical IT system?

It is an ungrounded power network fed by an isolation transformer and watched by an insulation monitor. At the first fault it raises an alarm without cutting power, so critical procedures are not interrupted.

How fast must the emergency generator back up a hospital?

According to Article 517 of NFPA 70, the life safety and critical branches must restore service within 10 seconds at most. Equipment that cannot tolerate even that interval is also backed up with a UPS.

Which Colombian standard applies to hospital electrical installations?

RETIE, updated by Resolution 40284 of 2026, and NTC 2050 (the Colombian Electrical Code), whose Section 517 covers healthcare facilities. Switchboards are verified to IEC 61439.

What does CONPES 4169 include for public hospitals?

An investment of COP 3.02 trillion (Colombian pesos) between 2026 and 2030 to upgrade 102 hospital facilities and equip 13 hospitals with biomedical equipment, with works that include modernizing electrical systems, medical gases, water and waste.