Ecuador hopes to purchase power from private Colombian companies following meetings

Ecuadorian energy officials announced Thursday that they may buy electricity from private companies in Colombia. “We have received several offers from interested parties,” Deputy Minister of Electricity, Fabián Calero said. “These Colombian bidders have surpluses and have generation plants that are not being used in the market.” He said the additional electricity could arrive by the end of November.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and President Daniel Noboa met on Wednesday.

The announcement followed meetings between President Daniel Noboa, Energy Minister Inés Manzano, Calero and officials from the Colombian government. “They are suffering the same drought conditions as Ecuador and are unable to transfer electricity at this time,” Manzano said. “As soon as weather conditions improve, they will resume transfers.”

Noboa, who was also in Bogota to attend the Biological Diversity Summit, held a brief meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday and was assured that Colombia “stands ready to help as soon as it can.”

In his comments, Calero did not provide an exact figure of how much power Colombian contractors could supply but said it would amount to “hundreds of megawatts.” The power would be transferred through public transmissions lines that connect the two countries..

Calero explained that in addition to current extra generation, the private thermal plants in Colombia have the capacity to generate additional powers. “These facilities sell primarily to industrial buyers but provide electricity to the public system in emergency situations,” Calero said.