On November 15, 37 sets of combustion generators (engines) from Korea will be shipped and purchased by the Electric Corporation of Ecuador (Celec) to restore 63 MW of generating capacity for the plants. Quevedo and Santa Elena 2 thermal plants In parallel, this Tuesday, October 31, tests are being carried out on the Termoesmeraldas 1 power plant so that it will be operational in the coming days and thus receive an additional 125 MW.

Likewise, on Sunday, October 29, the first generating unit of the Esmeraldas 2 thermal power plant began supplying energy to the National Interconnected System (SNI). This equipment, which produces 42 MW, provided energy to the state refinery until last week, but an agreement was reached with EP Petroecuador to integrate this production into the system.

In this way, a part of the thermal park is added to the production of electricity that the country needs in the midst of the electricity crisis.

On the subject of the purchased Hyundai Himsen engines, model 9H21/32S, of 1.7 MW each, Celec reported that the budget for these acquisitions was 65.82 million dollars, excluding VAT. Of this, $58.22 million was allocated to the purchase of 32 generator sets and auxiliary equipment for Quevedo Central (operated by Termopichincha), which were financed with funds from Celec. The remaining $7.65 million was for the purchase of five engines for the Santa Elena (Electroguayas) thermal power plant, to replace equipment that suffered accidents.

He also indicated that this purchase was supported by appropriate technical and legal analysis, and by the authorization of the Celec EP board of directors, and with the participation of the Secretariat for Public Anti-Corruption Policy of the Presidency of the Republic.

The information published by Celec comes amid a complaint made a few days ago by the energy expert José Alvear Campodónico, in which he claimed that the purchase would be made through an intermediary, which would have an additional cost, which ended up affecting the fiscal coffers.

In any case, Celec indicates that this model of equipment was chosen because it will serve as a replacement for those transferred in 2018 from Quevedo Central in the Amazon, to supply electricity to the oil fields of EP Petroecuador. This means that the Quevedo plant is equipped for this type of engine and already has an environmental permit.

Contracting was done directly with the manufacturer, in the Republic of Korea, in compliance with all the procedures established in the Organic Law on Public Procurement. The procedure is on the Sercop portal, so there are no intermediaries, and the most favorable costs and the shortest delivery times were obtained, the press release states.

The procurement of generator sets is supported by the official letter of the National Electricity Operator (Cenace) no. CENACE-CENACE-2023-0304-O, May 4, 2023, with the subject “Assessment of production sufficiency for the supply of electricity in the dry season 2023-2024”, which states in one of its sections: “Given that Celec EP has a thermal power plant with a production unit of 557 MW that exceeds 40 years of operation, of which 305 MW recorded annual unavailability ranging from 19% to 100% in 2022, it is recommended to replace it with modern and efficient units…”.

For this acquisition, the relevant report of the Chief State Inspector and the State Service for Public Procurement-Sercop, which issued approval for the import of these goods, was previously available.

In this context, there is a clear need for the above-mentioned contracts, guaranteed quality, costs and time; Therefore, any contrary proposal must be properly substantiated and proven. Celec EP reserves all rights that help it initiate all legal measures it deems necessary and convenient, in order to avoid any misinformation to the public and possible damage to the institutional image or the good name of those who represent it. .