Ecuadorian Government Announces Reduction in Blackouts to Five Hours a Day
Referential image. A young studies lit with a candle due to the prolonged power cuts in Ecuador. Photo: EFE
November 30, 2024 Hour: 6:10 pm
The Government of Ecuador announced this Saturday that it will reduce to five hours a day the blackouts scheduled between 6 and 8 December, until the power cuts of six to seven hours a day continue in force.
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“The Ministry of Energy and Mines reports that, between 6 and 8 December, scheduled power cuts nationwide will last five (5) hours a day,” said the Ministry of Energy in a statement.
The state entity also said that on December 6 “no suspension of the electricity service” will be applied in Quito, since that day the capital of the country celebrates the 490 years of its Spanish foundation.
The Ecuadorian government has applied severe periods of rationing energy nationwide since mid-September, with blackouts that lasted up to fourteen hours a day, due to the generation crisis, especially in its main hydroelectric plants.
Daniel Noboa, president of Ecuador, said the black-outs to finish in December, but the Energy Ministry explained that this could happen at the end of the year, because a low flow situation persists in the rivers feeding the Paute river area, where a complex of three hydroelectric plants with a combined installed capacity of 1,700 megawatts is being built.
By the end of the year and early next, the Government expects to put into operation a new 204 MW hydroelectric power plant and a series of thermal generation plants using gas or oil.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: EFE