On Wednesday, June 19, a nationwide power outage occurred in Ecuador, plunging approximately 18 million people into darkness. The blackout affected hospitals, the metro system in the capital, and residents in some areas are facing water supply challenges.
According to Roberto Luque, the Minister of Public Infrastructure in Ecuador, a fault in the transmission lines led to a cascading blackout, causing the country-wide power outage. Luque stated on the social media platform X, “We received real-time reports from CENACE (National Energy Control Center) indicating transmission line failures, resulting in the nationwide blackout.”
He added, “We are focusing all efforts to quickly resolve the issue.” The Ecuadorian government is expected to hold a press conference later on Wednesday.
Luque also serves as the Acting Minister of Energy in the country.
A witness told Reuters that the streets in the capital city, Quito, were chaotic due to the malfunctioning traffic signals caused by the outage.
The metro system in Quito also came to a halt. The Quito Metro system posted on X, “Due to a comprehensive failure in the national interconnected power system, the operation of the Quito Metro was forced to stop, and the system is currently undergoing reactivation and verification.”
The power outage also impacted hospitals in the country, with the government working to address the situation.
CNN’s reporting team stated that in Quito, including a children’s medical center, two hospitals experienced power outages during the blackout. Fortunately, shortly after the power was cut off, both hospitals were able to rely on generators for electricity.
In Guayaquil, the country’s largest city, two hospitals also briefly lost power during the outage.
Residents of Guayaquil had to endure temperatures of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. A resident told CNN, “It’s unbearable, hot and humid, we can’t use air conditioning or fans.”
“Additionally, we also have no water,” the resident added.
In some parts of Ecuador, the power outage lasted only 20 minutes, but local media and social media users reported that the majority of cities were still experiencing power supply issues.
Ecuador has been struggling with an energy crisis for years. In April of this year, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared a state of energy emergency and ordered an 8-hour nationwide blackout to address the effects of drought on hydroelectric power generation.
However, heavy weekend rains forced the authorities to close three hydroelectric power plants. Hydroelectric power accounts for approximately 75% of the country’s electricity supply.
The weekend rainfall triggered landslides, resulting in at least 17 deaths and 19 injuries. This disaster led to the temporary shutdown of Ecuador’s private OCP oil pipeline.
(Reference: Reuters, Associated Press, and CNN)