José Alvear, economic and political analyst, defender of libertarianism in Ecuador, believes that the measures taken by the government to face the dry season will be very expensive. Among them, buying cheap engines stands out as a disadvantage. fuel oil published a few days ago. He criticizes the fact that they did not act effectively on the finalization of concessions for projects that were in progress: Block of renewable energy sources, Combined cycle and North-East transmission line. He wrote a letter to President Guillermo Lasso about these issues.

Do we have the tools to deal with the dry season that already starts between October and March?

The maxim towards which countries that want to develop must walk is cheap energy and optimal education. President Lasso, while offering some things on the energy matrix, has not done so in his 28 months in office. For example, the project of structuring a trust, within the framework of which we intended to create a block of renewable energy sources of 500 MW, failed; This is because, in the absence of said trust, international banks do not finance the project. Nor did he promote natural gas combined cycle; This is because it does not guarantee either the raw materials or the accreditation to build the entire energy structure.

Hasn’t this second competition started?

There was interest from three or four companies, but the tender failed because the Government did not provide guarantees. It does not give them authority in the event that they receive a plan for the electricity transmission route.

Combined cycle, according to your understanding, should work with imported gas?

Based on the Campo Amistad reserve and imported, since there is not enough in Amistad to produce all the energy this project requires; but even imported gas is cheaper than diesel. The third failure is the electric transmission line initiative. Now power is still brought to the Northeast using liquid fuels. The day there is a government that, as a state policy, promotes energy production with natural gas rather than liquid fuels, the country will stop losing 1000 million dollars.

There was also no speed in awarding Campo Amistad…

The Combined Cycle tender related to Amistad and Monteverde failed because the Government is not interested in the exploitation of natural gas because the interests of the oil groups are stronger. Energy ministers are close to the oil world and are not interested in losing this business.

But there were two concessions: one Combined Cycle and the other Campo Amistad, which is ongoing.

The Amistad field serving Termogás Machala is one thing, but changing the country’s energy matrix is ​​another. It’s a serious conversation. With Termogás Machala, little or nothing is generated, or only segments, when we could have much cheaper energy. The only way is to stop producing diesel. Amistad and Combined Cycle are sister projects, but that raw material is not enough to change. Therefore, we must support exploitation and open the door to imports. It will still be beneficial to the country, as it is cheaper than diesel.

But then what to do with all these processes?

I reported this in a letter to the president last Wednesday, to tell me why these projects failed. I did it as an independent citizen. I am interested because, if we have cheap energy, the country becomes more productive and competitive and has more jobs.

Now, after knowing all the problems, I ask you again: are we ready for the dry season?

We are ready for the dry season, but it will be very expensive. Before he took office, engineer Gonzalo Uquillas, manager of Celec, said that with $80 million he could maintain the thermal plants and that we would not have problems with power outages. But now it will spend $250 million to charter barges from Turkey, which will generate 400 MW. These Turkish barges are also harmful to the environment, because they work at a loss fuel oil, which pollutes the most. Even energy will be more expensive for users, and if it continues to be subsidized, someone will end up paying for it.

Do you consider importing engines a good option? fuel oil What was announced?

That’s the icing on the cake. The Uquillas manager just bought about 54.4 MW for $65 million, which means the cost per megawatt is $1.1 million, while the market price is $730,800. The authorities will have to explain it. Why don’t they buy directly from Hyundai, but do it through an intermediary in Korea? This must be investigated by the Controller’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office, to whom I will present the information. I will make it official next week. In short, the unavailability we have is 1700 MW. Unjustified employment creates a loss of 300 million dollars.

In any case, do you rule out that there is this dilemma between cutting off electricity or importing gas, as the manager of Uquillas said?

You don’t have to be naive. Mr. Uquillas generated fear that, through the state of emergency and as a result of his and his team’s negligence, he could enter into these harmful contracts, 60 or 80 days after the fall of the government.