Ecuador begins electricity rationing of up to five hours due to drought

Provincial electricity companies in Ecuador began rationing electricity for up to five hours on Tuesday due to an extended drought and high temperatures, which have reduced the flows that supply the main hydroelectric plants, according to authorities.

In the capital, five-hour cuts were communicated to citizens, while in Guayaquil, in whose surroundings is the largest industrial settlement in the country, rationing will be three hours, as in the cities of Cuenca and Manta, the most populated. from the country.

Since the weekend, unexpected rationing periods of at least two hours have been recorded in about 10 provinces, which became known through social networks.

The Ministry of Energy, in a statement released Monday night, notified Ecuadorians of what it called temporary rationing to manage demand at the national level and asked citizens to reduce energy consumption “in this critical week” in which Rains are expected that could reactivate energy generation in the main hydroelectric plants.

TO end of last year and beginning of 2024Ecuador registered a series of electricity rationing throughout the country for between two and three hours a day in response to the lack of energy production in response to national demand due to a drought that affected hydroelectric generation plants.

On February 23, the authorities decreed the end of blackouts and no new similar measures were announced.

The Ecuadorian Minister of Energy, Andrea Arrobo, indicated last week that Colombia's decision not to sell electricity to Ecuador due to the drought in its own territory was added to the critical panorama. That country stopped supplying Ecuador two weeks ago.

Among the plants that have minimum flow levels are Mazar, Sopladora, Coca Codo and Paute, which produce close to 40% of the energy required by the country.

According to the authorities, until last year Ecuador had an energy production capacity of 7,074 megawatts, 73% corresponds to hydroelectric generation and the rest to thermal plants, which run on fuel, and solar or wind generation, among others. alternatives.

The country's average consumption is just over 4,570 megawatts.

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