The energy crisis that Ecuador is going through due to the severe drought in its main regions The power outages at hydroelectric power plants have intensified since Monday, with scheduled blackouts of up to eleven hours a day in some areaswhile in the capital Quito certain sectors have also begun to experience water rationing.
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Late on Sunday, President Daniel Noboa’s administration surprised with an extension of the scheduled times for blackouts during the course of this weekby extending the possibility of power outages for up to eleven hours a day at different time slots.
The growing water deficit led to blackouts that were initially scheduled to occur at night also occurring during the day, which implies a greater impact on the population and the economy, which may experience some $12 million in losses for every hour of power outage, according to an official calculation.
On Sunday, twelve of the country’s twenty-four provinces experienced power outages between 8:00 and 17:00 local time, with only a few hours’ notice.
Attention is now focused on the Mazar reservoir, the second largest in the country with a capacity of 410 million cubic metres, and whose level has risen slightly by about one metre in the last few hours thanks to some rain in southern Ecuador, after having registered a level of 2,116.40 metres on Saturday, slightly above its minimum level of 2,110 metres.
This small improvement has not been enough to solve the blackouts and this Monday the three hydroelectric plants on the Paute River that are fed by the water stored in Mazar, with a total installed capacity of 1,757 megawatts, which serve to supply about 40% of the national demand for electricity, were out of operation.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Gonçalves, acknowledged in a press conference that they are at the mercy of rain in the southern part of Ecuador, after a dry period that the Government has defined as the worst in 61 years.
For her part, the Minister of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition, Inés Manzano, reported that in the last twenty-four hours rain was recorded in 16 provinces of the country, according to data from the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Inamhi), and it is expected that throughout this week it will rain in a localized manner, which would improve the forecasts.
In case of torrential rains, the accumulation of sediments could affect Coca Codo SinclairEcuador’s largest hydroelectric plant with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts, Gonçalves warned that this potential situation could also affect generation and cause unforeseen power outages that would be announced two to four hours in advance.
Businessmen ask for transparency
The situation has sparked criticism of the government from both the business sector and social organisations.
The executive president of the Chamber of Industries and Production (CIP), María Paz Jervis, categorically rejected on behalf of her union “the lack of information and the contradictions of the national government in this energy crisis that the country is going through.”
“Today we also woke up to the news that some cities would have power outages of up to eleven hours, which generates million-dollar losses for the industry, we are talking about around 25 million dollars every day,” estimated Jervis.
Indigenous people see “multidimensional crisis”
Meanwhile, the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie), Leonidas Iza, said that “without electricity, without water, without employment, without justice and without security, Ecuador finds itself trapped in a multidimensional crisis.”
“The energy crisis is a direct consequence of the lack of a competent government. There is no planning in any sector of the State, which has left the small productive sector on the verge of collapse,” added Iza.
Ecuador’s electricity generation matrix is made up of more than 70% hydroelectric energy, based mainly on the Coca Codo Sinclair power plant and the Mazar reservoir.
Any damage to these two infrastructures leaves the country’s electrical system vulnerable, which in some moments of crisis has been resolved thanks to the import of electricity supplied by Colombia.
In addition to power cuts, water rationing lasting up to 12 hours has also begun in some areas of the capital, Quito.
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