Since May 20, the southwestern part of the country has been disconnected from the public natural gas service by networks. A thermal anomaly in Carro Bravo, Tolimacaused the suspension in Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Caucaaffecting about two million users.
Since then, Transportadora de Gas Internacional (TGI), the company that operates this part of the network, has worked with the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the National Operation Council (CNO) to fix the outage and find alternatives for users in this region.
(Colombia, the fifth fastest growing country in the OECD).
For now, TGIsubsidiary of Bogota Energy Group (GEB), announced that it is working on a flexible pipe, the laying of which will take about nine days, with which the connection can be reestablished temporarily. According to the company, the situation that caused the interruption continues, so it has not been possible to fix the damage.
“The solution of using flexible tubing will make it possible to have the gas transportation capacity required to meet the demand of residential, commercial, industrial, and vehicular users of the Coffee Region and the Southwest of the country in a period of approximately nine days, as long as the conditions external allow it”, assured the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
(Delivery of the Chirajara bridge would be done six months before).
In addition to this, the CNOwhich has been in continuous session since the beginning of the contingency, reported that other measures will be taken to supply the area.
For example, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Transport will manage the transport by roads to take Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Cauca and Narinowhich are supplied by alkanes.
About, Alejandro Martínez, president of Gasnovapointed out that the LP Gas distribution companies are working to supply these markets.
(The areas of the country affected by the suspension of natural gas).
“Those users who have the technical possibility of making the change from natural gas to LPG will be supplied with this energy”, said the union leader.
He also explained that this fuel keeps its price stable, with which those users who can take this solution will have little impact on their expenses.
With this energy you can cover residential, industrial users and commercial establishments that require it.
(‘The enemy is not oil or gas, but emissions.’)
Regarding the offer, Martínez clarified that they are working with ecopetrol to have the amount of gas required for this additional demand that will be in these five departments.
Likewise, they issued a recommendation to consumers so that during this suspension they keep the valves of the measurement center, the internal network and gas appliances closed. In the case of those who have the service, they still called for a rational use of energy and use alternatives such as energy.
For the moment, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management and environmental authorities analyze the causes of the thermal anomaly to find solutions.
BRIEFCASE