- Ecuador’s military began supporting operations at a major dam following a government decision to implement a series of eight-hour nightly power.
- The statement added that the government had taken several measures to face the crisis, including commissioning a power ship and seeking to build permanent generators on land.
Ecuador’s military began supporting operations at a major dam following a government decision to implement a series of eight-hour nightly power cuts across the Andean country next week. The cuts are being implemented amid a severe drought that has caused water levels to plunge, affecting hydroelectric plants.
Ecuador is in the grip of a power crisis, which the government attributes to a lack of maintenance of existing dams and contracts to secure new power generation, as well as the country’s worst drought in the last 61 years, according to the government.
The government said in a post on X that power cuts will begin on Monday, September 23, at 10:00 p.m. local time and last until 6 a.m. the next day. It added that the measure will be repeated on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It was not clear how many weeks the power cuts would be implemented.
“The established cut-off schedule has been chosen to generate the least possible impact on productive activities and the development of working days,” the post said.
The measure is in addition to a scheduled power cut on September 18 for preventive maintenance on all transmission facilities and distribution networks nationwide.
The government has taken several measures to face the crisis, the statement added, including commissioning a power ship, seeking to build permanent generators on land, and improving abandoned infrastructure.
According to authorities, Ecuador needs an additional 1,000 megawatts—or one gigawatt—of power to cover its national demand. On September 17, the Ecuadorean military said personnel entered the Mazar dam—which supplies 170 megawatts of power and has a large storage capacity—to protect the plant and support its operation.
The defence ministry said about 50 soldiers with technical knowledge would be trained to operate the country’s hydroelectric system. It did not confirm how long soldiers would man the dams. The national police said some 46,000 police officers would be mobilized nationwide during the nighttime power cuts, and patrols in at-risk areas, such as roads and prisons, will be increased.