Energy Minister says blackouts will continue but could be reduced, backs off corruption charges

Ecuador’s new Energy Minister Roberto Luque said Saturday that electric power blackouts will resume Monday, but suggested blackout periods may be reduced. In two Saturday interviews, Luque blamed the crisis on “rare and extraordinary climatic conditions” but said “ineffective communication and possibly incompetence” led to a lack of preparation.

The Mazar hydroelectric plant on the Paute River.

“We understand citizen indignation for the suddenness of the crisis and also for the posting of incorrect schedules and we are working to correct this,” he said. He added that scheduling of blackouts requires constant monitoring of electric production due to changing reservoir conditions at the country’s hydroelectric plants.

Luque appeared to back off earlier government claims that corruption or even sabotage prevented accurate information from reaching the public. “We continue to investigate the lack of data to plan for the situation and will report our findings when they are available.”

According to Luque, the El Niño and La Niña weather conditions are responsible for a rainfall deficit that began 10 months ago. “More than 90% of our electricity is generated at hydroelectric plants and when there is a rainfall deficit like we are currently experiencing, water levels in the reservoirs drop, reducing production,” he said. “In some parts of the country, we have a rainfall deficit of more than 50% since last June,” he added. “For electric production purposes, it is critical that the rivers that power generation have sufficient rainfall.”

He explained that, under optimal circumstances, almost 75% of the country’s power is generated at two hydro plants, on the Paute and Coca Rivers. “Our biggest problem is at the Paute-Mazar complex east of Cuenca,” he said. “The complex has three separate generation plants and three reservoirs, with Mazar being the largest. The area near the Paute River has experienced a rainfall deficit of more than 60% in the last nine months, which means the reservoirs are at historically low levels. The three plants normally produce 37% of Ecuador’s electricity and today they produce less than 10%.”

He added that the reservoir level at the Coca Codo Sinclair facility east of Quito is low but not to the levels on the Paute River. “Production at Coca Codo has seen some reduction, but we continue to operate at above 50% of capacity.”

Luque did not mention last week’s claim by government Communication Secretary Roberto Izurieta that the release of water at the Mazar reservoir was an act of “potential sabotage”. An electric company manager responded that the release was intentional since the water level at Mazar was too low to power its generators. The manager explained that the water was released to downstream reservoirs to increase generation at the other facilities.

Luque said there is “some good news” in the weather forecast. “Our meteorologists are predicting increased rainfall through the first half of the week. We need it to fall near the Paute and Coca Rivers.”

For the schedule of blackouts in the Cuenca area, click the Centrosur website.