Ecuador experienced a nationwide power outage on Wednesday, affecting homes, hospitals, and even the capital city’s subway system.
Government officials attributed the blackout to a failure in the transmission lines, highlighting the country’s ongoing energy crisis.
Power Gradually Restored
By late Wednesday afternoon, public works minister Roberto Luque announced via social media that 95% of electricity service had been restored across the nation of 18 million people. The minister also identified inadequate maintenance as a contributing factor to the widespread outage.
“What happened today is further evidence of the energy crisis we’re facing,” stated Luque, who also serves as acting energy minister. He pointed to recent problems caused by insufficient power generation, leading to unscheduled service disruptions.
Luque emphasized that the outage could have been prevented with proper investment in transmission infrastructure.
Previous Energy Emergency Declaration
In April, Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa had declared an energy emergency and announced planned electricity cuts.
However, Wednesday’s outage was attributed to a transmission line failure that triggered a cascading disconnection.
The blackout caused hazardous driving conditions due to non-functioning traffic lights and disrupted operations of Quito’s subway for several hours.
While Ecuador has been grappling with a drought affecting hydroelectricity generation, recent heavy rains over the weekend forced the shutdown of three hydroelectric plants.
Recent Natural Disasters Exacerbate Challenges
The weekend rains also triggered a devastating landslide that resulted in the loss of at least 17 lives and injured dozens. This disaster further compounded Ecuador’s energy challenges, leading to the suspension of operations and a force majeure declaration by the private OCP oil pipeline.