QUITO.- Ecuador announced the suspension of electric power rationing for the next seven days, although a state of emergency continues in the Andean country due to public calamity due to the generation deficit.
The incorporation of 156 megawatts of thermoelectric generation, the increase in rainfall in the area that has raised the level of the reservoirs in the hydroelectric plants, and the purchase of up to 6 gigawatts from Colombia, allowed the measure to be adopted, according to the Minister of Energy manager Roberto Luque.
Despite the cessation of power outages this week, that “does not mean that we are not in crisis,” Luque clarified, and warned that if the presence of sediment in the Coca Codo hydroelectric plant continues, as has happened in recent days, the rationing could return.
The Coca Codo plant is the largest generation plant in the country, with a production of 1,200 megawatts.
Luque announced that although weather projections indicate that there will be rain and the level of the reservoirs of the main hydroelectric plants will increase, the country must prepare for the drought in September, which is why energy generation and purchase options are being analyzed.
The sudden rationing came in mid-April due to the depletion of the flow of the most important reserve in the country, the Mazar reservoir, which feeds the hydroelectric plants, Paute and Sopladora, and which together with the Coca Codo plant produce close to 40% of the energy that the country requires.
President Daniel Noboa On April 19, a state of emergency was declared due to a public calamity due to the emergency, which brought with it the imposition of blackouts of up to 13 hours, which were gradually reduced to two hours.
Ecuador recorded a generation deficit of 1,000 megawatts per day, compared to an average consumption of 4,570 megawatts.
According to official figures, the losses due to crisis energy reached 72 million dollars a day.
Source: With information from AP
