Power outages affect most of Ecuador

Several areas of Ecuador were reported this Wednesday evening power outages due to electricity shortages within the Andean country’s national systema product of the reduction in supply from Colombia, crucial in this dry season when the amount of water is low in Ecuador’s hydroelectric plants.

Power outages were recorded in several sectors of the capital Quito and Guayaquil, as well as in the Andean provinces of Tungurahua, Imbabura, Cotopaxi, Carchi and Loja, in addition, the Amazonian provinces of Napo, Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe.reported by individual distribution companies, local media and users on social networks.

These blackouts occurred despite the fact that it was the day before The Government warned that they could possibly happen on Tuesday, but that there is no possibility of them happening on Wednesday or Thursday. as they are guaranteed sufficient supply to cover demand for both days.

He Minister of Energy and Mining, Fernando Santos Alvitein statements to the Primicias portal, he denied that these power outages were due to supply problems and attributed them to the fact that “energy demand has unusually increased and approached the level of supply”.

However, Santos Alvite and CEO of the National Electricity Operator (Cenace), Gabriel Argüellohe indicated that due to maintenance work on the Colombian transmission network, the import of electricity from that country will be carried out at full power only between 14 and 17 hours on Wednesday and Thursday.

Importing electricity from Colombia is common during Ecuador’s dry seasona season of low rainfall that drastically reduces the flow of the Amazon rivers, where most of the country’s hydroelectric plants are located.

In case of Quito Electrical Companynoted that “the disconnection lasted for several minutes, and power was gradually restored,” while in the case Southern Regional Power Company The cut lasted about an hour.

To cope with these unforeseen circumstances, The Ecuadorian authorities are trying to increase the production of thermal power plants and they are also exploring the possibility of importing surplus energy from Peru, although there is still no high-voltage electrical interconnection like in Colombia.