Government plan would triple electric generation by 2030, including addition of a nuclear plant
Ecuador’s Energy Ministry has announced a project to increase the country’s electric generation by 8,000 megawatts between 2025 and 2030. The plan calls for the construction of seven new hydroelectric facilities, a nuclear plant and several geothermal, wind and solar projects. In addition, generation capacity would be increased at four existing hydro facilities.
On Saturday, the government announced a five-year project to increase electric generation by 8,000 megawatts, double the current capacity.
The government estimates the cost of the plan to be $7 billion.
“This is a project designed not just to overcome the current generation deficit but to accommodate future growth and to make Ecuador energy self-sufficient,” Energy Minister Inés Manzano said Saturday. “The electric blackouts of 2024 made us painfully aware of the neglect the system has suffered in recent years and make it clear we must build aggressively for future needs.”
She added that the country’s electric demand has doubled in the past eight years.
Of the additional 8,000 megawatts, Manzano said 5,700 would be hydro. “Based on our experience from last year’s drought, these will include upgrades and technologies to improve functionality in low water situations, such as the expansion of existing reservoirs.”
She added that 14 new solar and wind farms will produce an estimated 1,500 megawatts while three geothermal facilities will generate a minimum of 360 megawatts. One of the geothermal facilities would be located in Baños de Cuenca, site of multiple hot springs.
Manzano added that the nuclear plant, to be built in a yet-to-be-determined location on the coast, will produce 300 megawatts initially but will be expandable to 1,000 megawatts.
The plan includes upgrades to the Paute-Mazar complex in northeastern Azuay Province, increasing generation capacity to 2,100 megawatts from the current 1,780.
The ministry plan also includes construction of a hydro facility on the Rio Yanuncay, east of Cuenca in the Soldados parish. The facility was first proposed in 2011 but has faced opposition from area residents.
