Power outages and incentives for own production in the private sector were some of the issues discussed by industry representatives in the country with Energy Minister Andrea Arroba, and in which there is light to move forward.

There is an energy law that the government is preparing, and one of the points is the abolition of upper limits for private production in order to help invest more in production and transmission networks, said the president of the Chamber of Industry of Guayaquil, Francisco Jarrín, one of the participants of the meeting held this Monday , December 18 in Quito. “Changes must be made so that there is no upper limit of 2 megawatts. The idea is that there is private investment in own production so that industries can meet their energy needs.”

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Incentives for investments are also expected, not only in solar energy but also in natural gas, which will enable the stimulation of electricity production and the transition to sustainable sources, he added.

Although the urgent economic project that is in the procedure in the National Assembly already has certain incentives for energy production – by giving additional deductions – he commented that the idea is to clarify this in the law, which is for hydropower plants, sun, wind, steam energy., hydrogen. which can be an important source of energy.

Jarrín sees a predisposition to create a regulatory framework to solve the current energy crisis and prevent it from recurring in the coming years. This is because the dry season repeats itself every year, no surprise, but the previous Government did not implement maintenance.

The new project is still under review and a working meeting will be held with the minister’s technical team to provide input on this new law.

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Due to the tariff for overnight stays that has been applied in the industrial sector since 2018, and which the outgoing Government decided to abolish, work tables will also be created to review what is included in the tariff for 2024 and to see what the compensation from the industry will be which generated savings. .

The reason for this is that on November 30, the new government approved the price list for electricity services for 2024, which determined that there would be no price increase for the population and commercial businesses, and that incentives for small businesses and for medium and large businesses would be maintained. that during the dry season they are self-sufficient with their own production and avoid using energy from the National Interconnected System.

“Our position is to show why it is important to keep this nightly price. Technically show what it represents”, and the idea is to carry out a review before the new tariff is introduced in January.

He commented that there are industries that applied the savings plan and even stopped working for the last 15 days of December in order to contribute to their savings and be able to receive compensation in the rate.

The industrial sector maintains a public savings campaign to counter rationing at the personal and business level.

And at the meeting, it was indicated that the Ministry would undertake a new plan so that the municipalities would also save energy and work on the country’s vision in the midst of the Christmas spirit.

Multilateral organizations for credit lines for alternative energy such as solar and wind were also present at the meeting.