Ecuador’s power cuts will begin this Friday, October 27. This was announced on Thursday the 26th by the Minister of Energy and Mining, Fernando Santos Alvite, during a press conference in Quito.

Santos Alvite explained that they have had a deficit in energy production for several weeks now… “we are going through the worst drought in the last 50 years”, he said, adding that they have tried to compensate for the lack of energy by repairing the production park, but indicated that they must be honest with the country : “The production is not enough to cover the demand…we see the need to organize temporary interruptions in the supply of electricity in the country,” the minister announced.

The rezoning will take place between 07:00 and 18:00, and each electricity company or distribution company will make cuts in a way that will cause the least complications for citizens. The cuts will be temporary until the new generation comes in and will last about 4 hours a day in the Sierra and Eastern region and 3 hours a day on the coast.

Santos Alvite clarified that due to the uncertain conditions, the cuts will be at night and early in the morning.

This announcement of the beginning of the restrictions comes after an alleged internal communication of the national electricity operator (Cenace) circulating on social networks last Wednesday, in which the Ministry of Energy is asked for permission to continue rationing.

Ecuador is on the verge of rationalizing electricity, and already has planned shutdowns in three provinces

Cenaca’s statement indicated that due to the low energy reserves stored in the reservoirs, “it is necessary to start a period of rationalization in the Ecuadorian electricity system, which if there is no improvement in the water contributions of the main plants, especially the Mazar-Paute-Sopladora Chain, would come into force on the 26th. For this, Cenace needs the consent of the Ministry of Energy and the implementation of the crisis plan.

Earlier on the same day, there were several scheduled power outages in three provinces of the country. The National Electricity Corporation (CNEL EP) reported on Tuesday that it will carry out maintenance work to improve the quality of electric service in several points of Esmeraldas, Azuay and Santa Elena, however, the authorities assured that these planned blackouts were not blackouts or rationalization, electric .