Government sticks to claim that blackouts will end in December — but not necessarily on December 1

Energy Minister Inés Manzano is backing President Daniel Noboa’s claim that blackouts will end in December although it may not happen on December 1, as Noboa had said on two occasions. “This is a promise the president has made and we are working hard to fulfill it,” Manzano said Tuesday.

Energy Minister Inés Manzano

In an interview on TC television, Manzano said that mobile power plants will arrive Wednesday or Thursday in Guayaquil and should be producing electricity by the second or third week of December. “Delivery of these thermal-powered turbines from the United States have been delayed by hurricanes and a labor dispute but they have now passed through the Panama Canal and will arrive this week in Ecuador,” she said.

She did not say how many units will be delivered but a weekend Energy Ministry press statement said there are 23 that will be installed at the Salitral thermal power plant near Guayquil. In total, the thermal units are capable of producing 80 to 100 megawatts of power, the ministry said.

The press statement also said other thermal power units are enroute from Lebanon but provided no details.

In addition, to the mobile units, Manzano said that testing is almost complete on the Toachi Pilatón hydroelectric plant west of Quito. “Within a few weeks, this facility will produce more than 200 megawatts of power, although startup production will be 68 megawatts,” she said

Without providing details, the minister said that repairs are almost complete on “several” thermal plants near Guayaquil, Manta and Esmeraldas that had been out of service for as long as seven years.

“We are moving forward on many fronts to overcome the crisis, and citizens will soon see the results,” Manzano said. “Also very important, we are beginning to see higher rainfall amounts near our largest hydro plants at Coca Coda Sinclair and the Paute complex. Yesterday, we recorded significant rain amounts in the Rio Coca watershed and in the area near the Mazar reservoir. We believe we are seeing the beginning of the end of the drought.”