The traffic police are ordering traffic this Friday due to the chaos at traffic lights following the first power outages in Quito. Santiago Fernández (EFE)
Without electricity, the country experienced a day of chaos. The cars were parked in the middle of the street in Quito because the traffic lights weren’t working. A similar panorama was on Orellana Avenue in Guayaquil. Traders opened their shops to the news that there was no electricity, and those who managed to prepare food for sale were left with finished dishes, in the premises in the dark and without customers to buy anything. The hair salons were open, but they said they could cut hair without drying it out. This is how many Ecuadorians learned that government-ordered power outages of up to four hours began due to the worst drought in 50 years, preventing hydroelectric plants from operating at maximum capacity.
Given the emergency, President Guillermo Lasso announced that he would travel to Colombia this Saturday to meet with Gustavo Petro and ask him for support in resolving the energy crisis that Ecuador is currently experiencing. “At various times our country has sold electricity to Colombia to meet the supply of its internal needs and we believe that this time there will be reciprocity with Ecuador,” the president said in X.
Ecuadorians:
Tomorrow morning I will travel to Bogotá to speak to the President @petrogustavo and ask for their support to solve Ecuador’s energy crisis.
At various times, our country has sold electricity to Colombia to meet its needs…
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) October 27, 2023
“Energy production is not enough to meet demand, so we had to initiate targeted and temporary cuts in the country’s electricity supply,” reported Energy Minister Fernando Santos, although he himself said otherwise at a conference on October 3. The press said otherwise. “There will be no power outages… The country can be calm… The government guarantees it,” he promised at the time. Since this Friday, there have been power outages in 21 of the country’s 24 provinces. Electricity has been rationalized for up to four hours in the Sierra and Amazon regions and three hours on the coast, although the latter consumes the most electricity due to the high temperatures it has endured this year.
Due to the El Niño phenomenon, Ecuador is facing low water levels, especially in the rivers of the eastern region, where 90% of the hydroelectric power plants that provide energy to the country are located. “We have had a deficit in electricity generation for several weeks. “Colombia helped us by providing the energy that our facilities could not produce due to lack of water, but they told us that they suffer from the same problem and need to reduce energy for Ecuador,” said Santos.
The energy deficit is 465 megawatt hours, for which the country is conducting a contracting process, which is expected to be operational by December 15. The emergency will cost Ecuador $160 million. At the same time, an emergency plan was activated to restore the thermal power plant, although it is subject to public procurement rules. If the contracts do not fall – which has already happened – 421 MW of various thermal power plants could come into operation by January 2024.
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Ecuadorians:
We understand the outrage that the power outages have caused in the country. We are aware of the impact and regret that we have to go through this situation. But we are experiencing the worst dry season in 50 years. In addition, consumption has increased by….
— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) October 27, 2023
The productive sector expressed its “concern and dissatisfaction over the sudden announcement of electricity rationing,” Fedexpor said in a statement. And “it should happen without planning and behind the back of the productive sector,” wrote María Paz Jervis, president of the Chamber of Production, in X. “The drought was already predictable. However, no contingency plan was managed,” he added. Nevertheless, authorities have asked the private sector to contribute by becoming self-sufficient at this time. While the Chambers of Commerce and Manufacturing estimate that the commercial sector would save $18 million for every hour without power. They also criticize the government for doing this in the final quarter of the year, when economic activity is stronger and it has been hit hard by uncertainty, a cost they have also taken on.
It has been 14 years since there were power outages in Ecuador. In 2009, a severe drought led to electricity rationing for about two months. Losses in the productive sector were estimated at about $1.2 billion. Seventeen years earlier, in 1992, power outages led then-President Sixto Durán Ballén to decide to move the clocks forward an hour so that all activities could begin earlier. The measure remained more of an anecdote than a solution to the problem of the electricity generation deficit. According to Minister Santos, Ecuadorians are expected to have permanent electricity by Christmas, but given the uncertainty, people have gone out to buy candles.
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