Quito.- A failure in an energy transmission line produced an unexpected blackout throughout Ecuador on Wednesday, the government reported, days after announcing that there would be new power outages in the country due to production problems.
The Minister of Energy of Ecuador, Roberto Luque, explained in a message on the account of the social network energy service on a national scale.
Later in a press conference, Minister Luque stated without specifying details that the blackout occurred due to “lack of investment in maintenance and new electrical transmission”, as well as due to lack of an infrastructure protection system. The failure occurred in a transmission line located in the Andean province of Azuay.
According to the minister, cities in the Andean region such as Quito, Ambato, Riobamba, recovered 100% energy supply. However, in others, such as the port city of Guayaquil, only 41% of the service was recovered and its total restoration would take up to four hours.
Asked if the problem could be repeated, Luque stated that “it is unlikely.”
Media and social media users reported that the problem generated inconveniences even in hospital areas.
Since last year, Ecuador has been facing an electricity generation crisis that led to rationing throughout the country and that in April caused power outages programmed by the government of President Daniel Noboa of between 8 and 12 hours a day during school hours and they gradually decreased. gradually.
Due to the strong winter storm, the Coca Codo and San Francisco hydroelectric plants paralyzed their activities because the reservoirs that supply them brought in a large amount of waste.
Emilia Cevallos, a young waitress who serves at a restaurant in a commercial area in the north of the capital, told The Associated Press that the blackout was surprising. “We thought it was only in this sector, but when we left we realized that some stores connected generators, but the majority did not have electricity, the traffic lights did not work either.”
The capital municipality reported in X that traffic agents were mobilized to coordinate the flow of traffic, while the company that operates the Quito Metro reported that due to the electrical failure the service was suspended. Users lined up waiting for operations to restart.
In Cuenca, 300 kilometers south of the capital, the situation was repeated with announcements from the mayor’s office regarding traffic management and the suspension of operations of a tram.
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