Chaos breaks out in Ecuador during blackout
Date
6/26/2024 7:05:10 AM
(MENAFN) Ecuador experienced a nationwide blackout on Wednesday, which the government attributed to decades of underinvestment in the energy sector. The extensive outage, triggered by a failed transmission line, caused widespread disruption across the country.
According to Public Works Minister Roberto Luque, who also serves as acting energy minister, the blackout began shortly after 3:00 p.m. local time when the 230,000-volt Milagro-Zhoray connector malfunctioned. This initial failure led to a cascading grid collapse, leaving the nation’s 18 million residents without power for several hours. Emergency responders were able to restore electricity to approximately 95% of the affected areas by 6:40 p.m.
The power loss resulted in significant chaos in major cities like Quito and Guayaquil. In the capital, the subway system was forced to suspend operations, and the outage caused severe traffic disruptions. The Education Ministry responded by temporarily shifting schools in larger communities to remote learning to ensure student safety.
Minister Luque explained that the crisis, the most severe since the October 2016 blackout, stemmed from a lack of investment over the past two decades. He highlighted a program initiated in 2004 to enhance the grid's resilience, which has not been adequately implemented. "For years we did not invest in these systems, and today we are experiencing the consequences," he stated during a briefing.
He emphasized that while the blackout was due to unusual and rare circumstances, it exposed the underlying fragility of Ecuador’s energy infrastructure. Luque called for increased funding in backup thermal power plants and renewable energy sources to prevent future incidents.
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