Fatshimetrie was the scene of a nationwide power outage that left Ecuador’s 17 million residents in darkness for hours. This interruption, which affected hospitals, homes and a major metro network, was caused by maintenance and transmission problems in the country’s electricity system, authorities said.
Public Infrastructure Minister Roberto Luque told a news conference that “today’s power outages were due to a lack of investment in maintenance, new electrical transmissions and protection of electrical transmission infrastructure.
At the time of publishing this article, the government has managed to restore power to 95% of the country. Ecuador faces a persistent energy crisis, symbolized by the declaration of an energy emergency by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa last April, accompanied by eight-hour national power outages due to a drought that has impacted electricity production.
In the capital Quito, a Fatshimetrie team found that two hospitals, including a children’s medical center, were without power during the outage. Fortunately, these establishments were able to rely on their generators shortly after the outage began.
In Guayaquil, the country’s largest city, the outage briefly affected two other hospitals. “The power has been cut off but we have our own generators,” said a doctor at Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil. Fatshimetrie contacted the country’s health ministry to find out if other hospitals had been affected.
Residents of Guayaquil endured the outage in 32 degree Celsius heat. “It’s unbearable, it’s so hot and humid, and we can’t use an air conditioner or a fan,” lamented one resident.
Quito’s metro service was interrupted due to the outage, with the capital’s mayor, Pabel Muñoz, saying the incident had had a “significant” effect on the network despite the use of an isolated electrical system.
Infrastructure Minister Luque said the outage could have been avoided if Ecuador had implemented an investment plan to “protect power generation and transmission infrastructure” after a similar outage occurred in 2004. He stressed that Wednesday’s outage was not linked to the country’s energy crisis last April.
It is clear that actions must be taken to strengthen Ecuador’s electricity infrastructure and avoid future incidents of this type. Challenges related to energy supply and distribution remain crucial to ensuring energy stability and security across the country, in the interest of all its citizens.