The situation in Ecuador's electricity sector is becoming more complicated due to the lack of rain in the areas where hydroelectric plants are located.
The Ecuadorian government is adamant about buying energy from Colombia to deal with the blackouts that have been taking place in Ecuador since September 23, and as a result of negotiations with the neighboring country, they are expected to be completed by the end of this month.
The situation in the electricity sector is complicated by the lack of rain in the areas of the hydroelectric plants, and the fact that the 341 megawatts (MW) of the first block, approximately 150 MW, were not added to the national interconnected system (SNI), which is why the regime is considering unilateral termination of the contract with the company that was contracted.
As part of the actions to execute the purchase of energy in the neighboring country, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa appointed former Minister of Government Arturo Félix Wong as counselor at the Embassy of Ecuador in Colombia on Monday, November 11.
Following the Colombian government's refusal to resume energy sales, Ecuador has sought out private companies.
Last week, the acting Minister of Energy and Mines, Inés Manzano, announced that she had held talks with Ecopetrol's marketing agent to sell a total of 195 MW, since initially it was 170 MW, and that it was expected to start by the end of this week. "It is supposed to start next week, because they are doing the tests, which are (of) three days," she said on Ecuavisa on Friday, November 8.
However, it would no longer be for this week, but by the end of the month, the minister indicated to the Punto de vista program of TC Televisión . Of the 170 MW offered, 100 MW would come from a thermoelectric plant and 70 MW from Ecopetrol.
In both spaces, the minister mentioned that Ecuador already has the regulations to carry out the operation, but that it is waiting for the process in Colombia, along with the tests of the thermoelectric plants. “The energy they sell us is what they had in thermoelectric plants that were not being used, and that is why the tests have to be done; it is a process,” said Manzano.
