The government of Ecuador announced this Wednesday that it will extend the suspension of scheduled blackouts for one more week, until May 19, after the intense rains in the southern part of the country, where several hydroelectric plants that were affected by the drought are located.
The acting Minister of Energy and Mines, Roberto Luqueindicated that it is most likely that there will be no energy rationing next week due to the favorable hydrological conditions that the country currently has.
«The suspension of power cuts during the next week is also due to the operation of all the hydroelectric plants, to the fact that we are buying energy from Colombia but, above all, to the levels of the Mazar and Paute reservoirs (which feed a complex of three hydroelectric plants with a total combined power of 1,717 megawatts»Luque added.
Furthermore, he indicated that together with the president of the country, the businessman Daniel Noboavisited the plant on Tuesday Mazarwhere “determinations on work to be carried out” have been made, especially around the maintenance of generation plants.
He also pointed out that the Government, in its desire to have additional electricity than what is available, is studying the purchase of a power generation ship with the capacity to produce about 80 megawatts.
The Government of Ecuador already suspended last week the power cuts that it had established since mid-April, in the midst of a severe electrical crisis due to the drought in the Paute River hydroelectric complex, as well as other factors such as the lack of maintenance and investments in recent years.
However, Luque has clarified that the fact that the cuts stop “does not mean that we are not in crisis” and that the improvement in electricity production is basically due to the intense rains in the Andean provinces of Cañar y Azuay.
He also highlighted the resumption of the purchase of energy from Colombia and the recovery of the operation of several thermoelectric units, which use gas or diesel in the energy generation process.
The scheduled blackouts began in mid-April, when the Government announced rationing periods of up to 13 hours in some places, with an average of eight hours nationwide in different cities and areas depending on consumption factors.
The Ministry of Energy has explained that every hour of electricity rationing in the country generates losses of about 12 million dollars. EFE (I)
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