The hydroelectric deficit having
"exceeded a historic record"
in Ecuador, the government, after declaring
an energy "state of emergency"
, ordered two days off on Wednesday to ration electricity and upgrade the country's installations.
“Senior state officials, including outgoing Minister Andrea Arrobo, voluntarily concealed crucial information on the functioning of the national electricity system
,” said the presidency in a statement denouncing
“unprecedented acts of corruption and negligence »
.
“Among the most striking facts, critical stocks of several water reserves and flow deficits from hydroelectric power plants (...) a situation which exceeds historical records
,” added the presidency.
“Sabotage”
The water reservoirs of Mazar (the largest) and Paute, both located in the southern Andes, have reserve levels of 0% and 4% respectively. Furthermore, the flow of the largest hydroelectric plant in the country, Coca Codo Sinclair (north of the Amazon), which supplies 30% of national demand and generates 1,500 MW of energy, suffers from a deficit of 40% per year. compared to the historical average.
Nationally, the energy deficit from this month of April will be
“between 22 and 27 GWh per day”
. In addition to the cancellation of 50% of household electricity bills for April (a measure announced on Tuesday), the presidency declared Thursday and Friday non-working days. They will allow electricity rationing, the details of which will be announced later, and the maintenance of power plants, the press release added. An investigation was opened and presented to the Attorney General against
“22
alleged saboteurs”, again according to the presidency.
On Tuesday, President Daniel Noboa, citing the drought but also mysterious
“sabotage”
, declared
an “emergency”
in the electricity sector and demanded the resignation of Ms. Arrobo, appointing in her place Roberto Luque, in charge of the ministry. Transport and Public Works. According to Daniel Noboa, elected at the end of 2023 for 18 months, high-level officials
“intentionally concealed information crucial to the functioning of the national electricity system”
.
Since the beginning of the week, the Ministry of Energy has implemented
“temporary rationing”
of electricity, the impact of which, which differs depending on locality and region, remains difficult to measure for the moment. In the capital Quito, they apply by sector and by period of up to six hours per day. Also on Monday, Colombia announced that it had stopped exporting electricity to Ecuador in order to deal with its own production problems generated by the severe drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon.
Referendum
This crisis comes four days before a popular consultation and a referendum called for by Daniel Noboa and whose main themes are the fight against drug trafficking and crime. Some 13.6 million voters (out of a population of 17.7 million) are asked to decide, for example, whether they agree with the extradition of Ecuadorians linked to organized crime.
“They tried to fool us with sabotage in the electricity sector, they tried to scam us with a dirty campaign (...) because they are nervous that the yes side will win
, ”
accused Daniel Noboa on Wednesday during an event organized in the seaside resort of Atacames (northwest).
Plagued by drug trafficking, but also corruption, Ecuador has been facing a serious security crisis caused by criminal gangs since mid-January. The president declared the country in
“internal armed conflict”
and deployed the army to neutralize around twenty of these groups. On the political level, President Noboa must deal with a dispersed but majority opposition in Parliament and dominated by supporters of the former socialist head of state Rafael Correa (2007-2017, in exile after his conviction for corruption).
The intrusion on April 5 of the Ecuadorian police into the Mexican embassy to arrest a relative of Rafael Correa, convicted of corruption, reignited tensions with this opposition, in addition to the international outcry and the condemnation of several countries. Latin America led by the left.