Failure at a major hydroelectric plant causes blackouts in several provinces of Ecuador

A failure at Ecuador’s second-largest hydroelectric plant left nearly half of the Andean nation’s provinces without power on Saturday, authorities said.

The damage occurred at the Molino substation connected to the Paute hydroelectric complex in the Ecuadorian Amazon, causing a power outage in Quito, Pichincha and a dozen other provinces, energy authorities said. They estimated that the service would be fully restored in the next few hours.

In southern Ecuador, where there has been no significant rainfall for over a month, there is the Mazar, Molino, Sopladora and Minas San Francisco generation complex, which has the capacity to produce some 2,207 megawatts, nearly half of what the country consumes.

The blackout occurred in the midst of an electricity sector emergency declared in mid-August due to the crisis caused by the severe drought, and through which the government assured that it would implement measures to avoid electricity rationing, which between February and May lasted up to 13 hours.

The first to speak out on Saturday was the mayor of Quito, Pabel Muñoz, who wrote on his X account, formerly Twitter, that the blackout affected the subway transport service.

“We are waiting for information from the national authorities, as we were not alerted,” he added.

Traffic in the north of the city was chaotic due to a lack of signs and traffic lights, The Associated Press was able to see.

The capital’s municipality reported in a journalists’ chat that 250 agents were deployed to manage 1,200 intersections or crossings where the traffic lights were not working.

The shops remained open, although they looked dark.

Rafael Pineda, owner of a hair salon in the north of the city, opened the blinds to let in natural light.

“This affects us terribly,” she told AP. “Without electricity I can’t do anything because hair cutting machines work with electricity, now I have to do it with scissors, as if I were back in time.”

Authorities have admitted that the sector is in crisis due to a generation deficit and a prolonged drought in much of the country, especially on the eastern slope of the Andes mountain range, where the main generating plants are located, as well as a lack of investment to increase electricity generation.

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