In the midst of its worst drought in 60 years, the Government of Ecuador will implement strong measures to address the risk to its hydroelectric plants: There will be eight-hour nightly blackouts nationwide and state employees will work remotely.
The measures aim to save energy in the face of “the worst drought in the last 61 years and with the aim of responsibly managing the control of our electrical system”the presidency announced in a statement.
In this regard, the administration of Daniel Noboa explained that due to the drought affecting the reservoirs of several hydroelectric plants, the main source of supply, eight-hour rationing will be implemented throughout the country from 10 p.m. local time between Monday, September 23 and Thursday, September 26.
“The established cut-off time has been chosen with the aiming to generate the least possible impact on productive activities and the development of working hours“, the Executive stated.
Power outages planned in Ecuador due to historic drought
With each of the blackouts, Ecuador will lose around 12 million dollarsas reported by the Chamber of Commerce from the port of Guayaquil, the nerve center of the country’s trade.
Another measure that the Government will take to reduce energy consumption will be to impose teleworking for the public sector on Thursday and Friday of this week.
In addition, last Sunday, the government announced a eight-hour general blackout from 10 p.m. on Wednesday due to “preventive maintenance” on the power transmission system.
During that period, There will be a curfew in the provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Santa Elena, El Oro, Orellana and the town of Ponce Enríquez (Azuay)which have been under a state of emergency since August 30 due to drug trafficking violence.
Serious energy problems in Ecuador
In April, Ecuador had already suffered a similar situation due to the drought and there were up to 13 hours without electricity. At that time, the electricity sector was declared in emergency in April due to low river flows.
In June, there were also cuts after the rains caused the accumulation of sediments that They put the Mazar dam at riskin the southern Andes and that supplies water to a complex of three hydroelectric plants.
On September 7th, A “human error” caused a sudden blackout in several provinces.
Source: Ambito
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