From January to August 2026, Colombia exported non-monetary gold worth USD 5,279.3 million, up 95.1 % from a year earlier (DANE, 5 October 2026). Behind every ounce are crushers, pumps, fans and conveyor belts running on electricity, and that power reaches them through electrical panels for mining: low and medium voltage assemblies that distribute, protect and switch the energy of a mine or a processing plant. Here is what the 2026 RETIE (Colombian electrical code, the Technical Regulation for Electrical Installations) requires and how to specify them.
Why now: according to XM, operator of the National Interconnected System, as cited by Valora Analitik (21 May) and Portafolio (22 May), mines and quarries were the segment with the biggest increase in demand in April 2026, at 747.31 GWh (Portafolio figure), 22.18 % more than in April 2025 and 33.65 % of the non-regulated market, the one served to large industry. Coal adds to the picture: exports of coal, coke and briquettes reached USD 3,343.7 million from January to August, up 8.7 % (DANE). A caution on how to read the data: in August 2026 industrial and large commercial demand fell 1.54 % (XM, report of 28 September, cited by El Norte and La FM), so electrical panels for mining are designed for the installed load, not for the peak of a single month.
They are switching and distribution assemblies that feed and protect the motors and equipment of a mining operation: low voltage (up to 1,000 V AC, IEC 61439) and medium voltage (switchgear cells under IEC 62271-200). They are installed in processing and crushing plants, pumping and dewatering, ventilation, belt conveying and mine substations, in open-pit or underground operations.
RETIE separates two worlds. On the surface, the general rules for installations and products apply. Underground, every mine is treated as a classified environment: Article 3.28.6.4 considers it hazardous because of the proven or possible presence of flammable or combustible gases and dusts, and it requires area classification before equipment is chosen.
Answer first: Article 3.28.6 of Resolution 40284 of 23 June 2026, adapted from IEC 61557-8 and NTC 6057, sets general, earthing, equipment and area classification requirements. The text in force is in the compiled RETIE from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
What RETIE says about electrical installations in mines (Book 3, 2026)
One practical detail: item m allows molded-case circuit breakers without a visible break, as long as it is ensured that all phases are open. That is a design decision that must be written into the specification.
To reduce the arc and the ground fault current where the cable is dragged, crushed and soaked. RETIE requires supply circuits to be earthed through a limiting impedance (what it calls an IT system), with insulation monitoring that indicates earth continuity and disconnects the installation within 1.5 s at most, or raises an alarm.
Answer first: IP (protection against dust and water) of 20, 23, 54 or 55 depending on the location, and IK (impact resistance) of 09 at the working faces and 07 elsewhere. To read these codes on a panel, see the IP and IK ingress protection rating.
RETIE minimums for equipment in underground mines (3.28.6.4.1)
For the faces, RETIE describes the "face control boxes" (cofres de tajo): rugged panels with a welded steel enclosure and a certificate of conformity. In mines with an explosion risk they must be certified and marked IECEx or equivalent, and carry mechanical interlocks on the opening system. This is a specialized category, defined case by case with engineering.
A transportable, enclosed structure that is checked at every move. Article 3.28.6.3 is the part of RETIE that most resembles a checklist:
Ectricol builds in Funza the shelter-type mobile substation, the mobile electrical substation and the shelters (prefabricated electrical rooms, assembled and tested at the factory). Each configuration should be validated against this article with the manufacturer's engineering.
Both: medium voltage carries the power to the site and to the large motors, and low voltage distributes and controls. Ectricol builds motor control centers, SIVACON S8 distribution switchboards and medium voltage switchgear cells; the rest of the family is in low voltage. For sector context, see mining.
Two site conditions change the design. Altitude: IEC 61439-1 takes 2,000 m as the normal maximum for low voltage switchboards and IEC 62271-1 takes 1,000 m for medium voltage switchgear; above those values the insulation design is agreed with the manufacturer, something to confirm if your mine is high in the mountains. And the short-circuit current, which defines the panel's Icw; it is explained in Icw, Ipk and Icc on the nameplate.
Specification lesson. Before ordering electrical panels for mining, define five data points and demand them in writing: (1) area classification and up-to-date electrical drawings (3.28.6.1); (2) a neutral earthing scheme with limiting impedance, insulation monitoring and a trip in 1.5 s or less (3.28.6.2); (3) IP and IK by zone, with IK09 at the faces (3.28.6.4.1); (4) the site's altitude, temperature and dust, together with the short-circuit current at the terminals; (5) for mobile substations, a transformer of 125 % or more and an earthing test after every move.
One boundary: this article explains the regulation and the design criteria; the nameplate values of each of the electrical panels for mining are those of its datasheet and test documentation. Industrias Ectricol S.A.S. manufactures in Funza, Cundinamarca.
They are low and medium voltage assemblies that distribute, protect and switch the energy of motors, pumps, fans and conveyors in a mine or processing plant. In Colombia they must comply with RETIE, which sets mine-specific rules in Article 3.28.6.
IP20, IP23, IP54 or IP55 depending on the location, and IK09 for equipment at working faces and next to heavy machinery, or IK07 for everything else. RETIE requires the IK rating in both classified and non-classified areas.
To limit the arc and the ground fault current. The circuit is earthed through a limiting impedance, and insulation monitoring disconnects within 1.5 s at most or raises an alarm.
At least 125 % of the nameplate power of the mobile electrical equipment it feeds (RETIE 3.28.6.3). It must also be in an enclosed cover or behind a 2 m barrier, and its earthing is tested at every move.
Face control boxes in mines with an explosion risk must be certified and marked IECEx or equivalent. For the other electrical panels for mining, Article 3.28.6.4 requires classifying the areas and choosing equipment according to that study and RETIE; confirm the requirement for your case with your inspection body.
Has your mine or processing plant already defined its electrical panels for mining?
Tell us about your operation (loads, voltage, altitude, short-circuit current and whether it is surface or underground) and we will review with engineering what each Ectricol solution covers.
Talk to a specialist See the shelter-type mobile substationPicture a food plant on the Bogota plateau at 2:07 p.m. The grid drops and a clock starts running: ten seconds. An automatic transfer switch panel (ATS) is the low voltage assembly that senses the utility...
Keep readingA switchboard labeled “IP67” may not survive a hose-down, because what was tested was immersion, and the nameplate does not even say whether it can take a hit. The ingress protection rating (the IP...
Keep reading