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Ecuador reduces energy deficit with power purchase agreement with Colombia
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 - 11:15
Energía Ecuador. Foto: Reuters.

This will allow power outages for the next few days to be just two hours, and on Friday there are expected to be no interruptions.

The Ecuadorian Minister of Energy, Roberto Luque, announced this Tuesday that the country's authorities have reached an agreement with neighboring Colombia for the purchase of energy, a maneuver aimed at trying to put an end to the electrical blackouts that Ecuador has been suffering for weeks. .

Thus, with the reconnection between both countries, Ecuador will be able to reduce its energy deficit from 10.4 to 4.2 gigawatts per hour. This will allow power outages for the next few days to be just two hours, and on Friday - a holiday in Ecuador - it is expected that there will be no interruptions.

However, asked about the date on which the blackouts will end, Minister Luque has acknowledged that it is still too early to address this matter and give a specific date, according to information collected by the Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo.

This announcement by Luque comes just one day after the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced on his social networks that Bogotá was carrying out "technical reviews" for the sale of energy to its neighboring country in order to "resolve its rationing problems.

"We are already on the verge of selling energy to Ecuador again (...) Energy integration is essential to be resilient in the climate crisis," President Petro said the day before. That same day, the Government of Ecuador had eliminated the power outages planned for that date.

The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, dismissed the previous Minister of Energy, Andrea Arrobo, and declared a national emergency due to these cuts, with the aim of guaranteeing continuity of supply. He also warned of possible "sabotage" which, however, did not come to fruition.

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